More than 150,000 people in 18 departments have been affected by heavy rains in Peru this year. According to Radio Programas radio, the National Civil Defense Institute, Indeci, reported on Monday that 154,496 people have been affected. Indeci also reported 28,452 homes, 297,860 meters of highway and 15,489 hectares, or about 37,000 acres, of farm land have been affected by the rains.
Indeci and the National Program for Alimentary Assistance, Pronaa, have reportedly provided some 131 metric tons, MT, of aid to the victims. Fifty-eight MT were for housing, 17 MT for warm clothes, eight MT for tools, two MT for domestic goods and six MT for other materials.
Most of the damage has reportedly been in Peru’s Andean and jungle regions, however two rivers in the country’s arid coastal region overflowed on Saturday causing widespread damage. In the southern city of Nazca, the Aja River overran its banks affecting hundreds of families while the Tumbes River overflowed in the northern Tumbes Department affecting thousands of acres of banana plantations.
