After flying over the tornado damaged Dajabon region, President Leonel Fernandez toured the area to satisfy himself that the government's emergency response services were effectively dealing with the situation. He has promised the local population that the teams would remain in the area until each and every affected family is helped. At least 445 homes lost their roofing as a result of Tuesday's tornado and some have been completely destroyed.

He said that everywhere he saw government relief crews working hard to restore normality to the devasted region. Cleanup crews, house repair crews and medical teams are all in the area and will remain until the work is finished.

The president will return to area in three weeks to ensure that the relief effort is being carried out properly.

Hardest hit in this week's round of fuel price increases was regular gasoline users. A RD$3.50 per gallon increase brings regular gasoline to RD$147.50 per gallon. Premium also rose but only by RD$1.50 to RD$158.10.

Users of diesel fuel will feel some relief this week with a decrease of RD$2.50 to RD$105.30 per gallon. Propane also went down by RD$0.95 per gallon with subsidized now selling for RD$49.71 per gallon and non-subsidized at RD$71.47 per gallon.

U.S. market trends are again being blamed for the increases.

With the implementation of DR-CAFTA, Santo Domingo is starting to attract a lot of attention from major international retailers. Particularly interested in setting up locations in Santo Domingo are home furnished and design outlets in response to the current real estate boom the country is experiencing.

Pier 1 Imports is currently building a store on Sarasota Avenue in the city and Swedish funishings giant Ikea is rumoured to begin construction of an outlet of John F. Kennedy Avenue.

With the addition of stores such as these, Santo Domingo could become a shopping mecca for the Caribbean and Central America.

Isn't it wonderful that weather forecasters get it wrong more than they get it right? Other than a few minor glitches it was a pretty nice week. We particularly enjoyed the light show that Mother Nature put on on Wednesday night. Still the humidity levels must be on the rise because it sure felt a lot hotter than the predicted highs.

Okay, on to the weekend -

Saturday 12th - a partly cloudy day with a chance of late afternoon or evening thunderstorms. Turn on the A/C 'cause the predicted high is 91F. Low going down to 75F.

Sunday 13th - a small chance of scattered thunderstorms. Won't stop us from going to the beach though! High of 89F and low of 74F.

Have a great weekend everyone and don't forget to use your sunscreen!