Heavy rain brings severe flooding to South America by Sean Batty
Bolivia and Peru have become the victims of heavy rain and flooding over the last few weeks, isolating villages and affecting tens of thousands of people.
On Tuesday the heavy rain sparked a mudslide in Santa Cruz sending villagers running for safety. Two people were killed as the flood hit the village near Sipe Sipe in the department of Cochabamba.
This takes the death caused by flooding in Bolivia to over 30 people.
For the last month torrential rains have caused terrifying floods and mudslides, which have washed away many houses and even entire villages. In the last few weeks over 52,000 people have been displaced.
The government declared a nationwide state of emergency last month when the flooding became a major problem.
Meanwhile in neighbouring Peru the devastation continued. In the central department of Pasco, the town of Pozuzo has been completely cut off from the outside world.
On Tuesday there were 15 mudslides which tore through the countryside, destroying bridges and cutting transport links to the village. A team of helicopters were sent in to help rescue the marooned villagers.
Farmers are desperately trying the re-route swollen rivers away from their fields by building huge mud-banks around them.
The official death toll in Peru has now risen to 23. The Peruvian Civil Defence Institute estimates that since November 1,600 houses have been destroyed, affecting over 10,000 people. Hardest hit are the central department of Huanuco, Junin and San Martin.
Things don’t seem to look any better with the heavy thunderstorms that have caused the flooding in both Peru and Bolivia set to continue into March. The countries are now moving into what is normally their wettest season.
|
|
