SANTIAGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Dominican authorities reported 11 more deaths Thursday from Tropical Storm Olga, raising to 25 the death toll across the Caribbean from the second devastating storm to hit the island of Hispaniola in as many months. The vast majority were killed in the central Dominican province of Santiago after officials, fearing a collapse of a dam, ordered the release of billions of gallons of water into the Yaque River and inundated seven towns along the waterway's path. "We knew the damage we were going to cause below. We did not want to, but we had to," Octavio Rodriguez, a member of the committee that decided to open the floodgates, told The Associated Press. Furious residents said they were warned just minutes before waves as high as a two-story building came crashing down the river, sweeping away cars and sending plumes of mud careening into houses. "They warned us but there was no time ... everybody was sleeping," said 50-year-old Sonia Duran Maldonado, her voice shaking. "They must beg our forgiveness for what has happened." Officials explained Wednesday that as heavy rains overwhelmed the Tavera Dam near Santiago, the country's second-largest city, they decided to release water to prevent an outright collapse. By midnight Tuesday all the dam's doors were open and 1.6 million gallons were pouring through every second.