The Amazon River, South America’s largest, has reached its highest level since Peru’s National Meteorology and Hydrology Institute, or Senamhi, began keeping records near its source, daily El Comercio reported Wednesday.
The river topped 118.34 meters on April 15, which is 1.14 meters more than what Senamhi documented as being the highest level recorded.
As rains are expected for the next 48 hours, Senamhi has warned of possible floods in Peru’s Amazon region. The National Civil Defense Institute, or Indeci, has urged citizens to locate and identify higher grounds and evacuation routes.
At 6,800 kilometers, the Amazon is the second-longest river in the world, after the Nile. However, it is the largest river in the world by volume, with a total river flow greater than the next eight largest rivers combined, and discharges far more water at its mouth and drains more territory – across Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Paraguay and Venezuela – than any other river.
