More rain looms as Peru struggles with disastrous floods
LIMA: Peruvians struggled on Sunday to cope with avalanches, mudslides and extensive flash flooding caused by torrential downpours, and forecasters predicted still more rain ahead, prolonging the country’s woes.
It has been a bad year for flooding in Peru, and the toll including from the latest dangerous weather now stands at 75 since January, the government said. Devastating damage reports continue to pour in.
The National Emergency Operations CentRE said 99,475 Peruvians had lost everything since the beginning of the year, while 626,928 had suffered less serious damage to their homes. The government predicted days of more rain ahead.
On Saturday, flood waters swept into the center of Trujillo, the country’s third-largest city, filling its streets and forcing residents braving the waters to cling to each other to avoid being swept away.
The ‘huaycos,’ as Peruvians call the powerful avalanches of mud and stone that pour down from steep Andean hillsides after heavy rain, continued their damaging ways.
Mountains of mud filled city streets, sweeping away everything in their paths: houses, furniture and sometimes people.
Air travel has been affected as well.
“I’ve been stranded in Trujillo for five days. My family lives in a part of Lima affected by the huaycos, but I haven’t been able to get through to them,” a would-be passenger, Ernesto Alvarez, told RPP radio.
“Some 500 of us are stranded here, unable to travel. We just hope there isn’t another ( huayco).”
The rains affected the northern area as well. In the city of Piura, streets were again flooded by the effects of El Nino.
The periodic warming of Pacific Ocean waters charges clouds with tremendous loads of water, which falls on coastal areas, setting off avalanches from steep hillsides and causing rivers to overflow.
“There will be heavy rains in northern regions and in central Lima over the coming days, so the alert situation remains in place,” Prime Minister Fernando Zavala said Saturday.
Humanitarian aid, from the government and individuals, was being sent by plane or ship to affected areas.
“We must help each other in solidarity with those who are victims,” said President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. — AFP