The National Institute for Civil Defense, Indeci, has provided more than 108 tons of goods to help some 45,000 people in Peru as torrential rains continue to cause havoc throughout the country.
About half way through the rainy season, the storms have caused floods and landslides, or “huaycos” as they are known in Peru, that have blocked highways and left thousands of people temporarily isolated in the country’s Andes and jungle regions.
The head of Indeci, Luis Palomino, said almost all departments have been affected. “The only departments that did not have major problems in January are Piura, Lambayeque, La Libertad, Ancash and Lima. But almost the entire country has suffered consequences from the rains, floods and overflow,” daily La República quoted Palomino saying.
In January, the hardest hit departments were Amazonas, Arequipa, Moquegua, Tacna and Ucayali, where 1,500 homes and some 7,500 people were affected after flooding from the Aguaytía River.
Less than two weeks into February, the Ucayali Department continues to be one of the most affected along with the Apurímac, Huancavelica and Madre de Dios departments.
Palomino reportedly said the country’s highways have been more affected by the rains than housing. However, in the town of Chalhuanca, in Apurímac Department, the constant precipitation threatens to collapse the area’s adobe houses.
“There are 1,200 houses in this area, of which 70 to 80 percent are flooded,” La República reported Chalhuanca’s mayor, Gonzalo Carbajal, saying. “That’s why we know with precision the extent of damage that the heavy rains are causing.”
On Sunday, the National Meteorology and Hydrology Service, Senamhi, issued a 84-hour alert for moderate to strong rains with electrical storms in 18 departments, most in the jungle region.
