worldbank.org (28.05.2024) Reina Solano, a single mother of five, lives in a modest house in Higüey, in La Altagracia province in the Dominican Republic. Her household was among the 35,000 identified as the most affected by Hurricane Fiona. The heavy rains and strong winds of up to 150 kilometers per hour caused severe flooding and extensive damage, destroying homes and key infrastructure in the Dominican Republic. “Fiona was a disaster for me. It caused a lot of destruction,” she says. Soon after, Reina benefited from the Emergency Bonus (Bono de Emergencia) an initiative from the social protection program SUPERATE, an emergency cash transfer to temporarily offset the losses she had suffered at home. “I received monthly money that I used to buy food for my children,” she explains. However, the respite was brief. “After Fiona, (Hurricane) Franklin came. The entire street was under water, and we have to look for shelter in the church,” she recalls. For Dominicans, this cycle of disasters underscores the importance of the social protection system in a country highly vulnerable to climate change.