The organization said given the Caribbean nation’s geographic location it’s "highly exposed to natural threats, mainly tropical storms, tornados, floods, landslides, wild fires and earthquakes."

A statement of the organization quoted by Efe also affirms that the Dominican population is "badly misinformed” on the threats natural phenomena pose.

Moreover the document drafted jointly with the Assembly of Cooperation for Peace, the Spanish Red Cross and Plan International said the number of people who live in the country’s risk zones "is growing from the demographic pressure, the lack of territorial zoning plans, environmental degradation and poverty."

The population "isn’t aware of its condition of vulnerability and threats, or of the consequences of being exposed to these,” the report states, adding that the condition of poverty also forces an important part of the population to live in high risk zones.

“The numerous damages in human, material and of losses in the means of living related to natural threats are the result of, mainly,  the Dominican Government’s lack of resolve in assuming its responsibility and its commitments in relation to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)."