Advancing Disaster Preparedness and Response Through Earth Observation in the Dominican Republic
Earth Observation was used in the Dominican Republic by the World Bank, supported through the GDA Fast EO Co-Financing Facility (FFF), to build national flood and landslide risk baselines and improve disaster preparedness, infrastructure planning, and resilience to extreme weather.
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Description
The Dominican Republic is located in the primary corridor of Atlantic tropical storms, which exposes it not only to high winds, but also to highly variable rainfall and steep terrain, which can swiftly turn intense precipitation into flash floods and landslides. National governments are aware of these hazards, but disaster management is often limited by fragmented or inconsistent risk data. Without reliable national baselines, it is difficult to compare risk across regions, validate models, or shift from reactive responses to more preventive and targeted planning.
In response to this, the World Bank, through the ESA GDA Fast Co-Financing Facility (FFF), is integrating Earth Observation (EO) data into risk analysis processes that can support development planning, infrastructure investment and long-term resilience strategies. European EO data was combined with national and local datasets to gain a clearer picture of flood and landslide risk across 14 provinces. These outputs help identify where hazards, exposure, and vulnerability overlap, supporting better investment decisions and planning.
Read more about this Case Study here: From space to preparedness: How Earth Observation can strengthen emergency response and resilience in the Dominican Republic