Flooding Imperils Thousands in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador

LA PAZ, Bolivia, March 1, 2006 (ENS) - Continuous floods fed by heavy rains since early January have affected more than 250,000 people in several departments across Bolivia. Thousands of families in Brazil and Ecuador have also been displaced.

The most damaged areas are located in the Bolivian departments of Santa Cruz, La Paz and Beni. The Bolivian government declared a state of emergency at the beginning of February and has appealed for international assistance.

In response, on Friday, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ordered that humanitarian aid be sent to Bolivia. Brazil is sending 14 tons of food, according to the Ministry of Foreign Relations. The basic food baskets, which were provided by the Brazilian Civil Defense agency, are sufficient to feed 1,000 families for three weeks.

The Brazilian Air Force is in charge of transporting the food supplies. According to the ministry, the FAB plane is expected to land at the El Trompillo airport, in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, where the food will be turned over to representatives of the Bolivian government and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP).

Representatives of the program are assisting local officials in the reception and distribution of international humanitarian aid. To date, WFP has delivered about 155 tons of food aid to more than 6,000 families in the departments of La Paz, Santa Cruz and Beni.

This Bolivian girl is one of the thousands of people who now rely on the UN World Food Program for their survival. (Photo courtesy WFP)

Thousands of families who have lost their homes are living in 24 overcrowded camps set up throughout the country.

Urgent needs are the rapid improvement of the sanitary situation and the quality of water; support of emergency shelter management; improvement of the quality of food supplies for children; psycho-social care of the population in the camps; and solutions for basic equipment of schools, according to an assessment released Sunday by the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team and the government of Bolivia.

WFP is leading the UN interagency effort to provide for food needs and assistance for affected families, but there are other aid agencies working to help Bolivian families affected by the floods.

"Living in the camps is hardest on the women and children," says Barbara Jackson, CARE's country director in Bolivia. "Some families are sleeping out in the open. Because there's little shelter there is virtually no privacy and extremely limited sanitation facilities so protection against sexual violence is a huge concern."

The camps continue to have problems with management issues, the WFP agrees.

CARE is seeking funds to help promote safeguards for women and children in the camps by working with local organizations to advance self-policing and protection by communities themselves as well as to help train community members in preventing future disasters.

CARE is addressing the protection and shelter issue by supplying tents to nearly 5,000 people in camps throughout the eastern department of Santa Cruz. The organization is also distributing hygiene kits, mosquito nets to ward off malaria, jerry cans for holding water and has helped to install water "bladders" to provide drinking water.

A large majority of the poor communities living in the highland rural areas of Potosi, Oruro and La Paz have lost nearly 70 percent of their crops. It is estimated that 96,300 hectares of cultivated lands were lost in Santa Cruz. Losses are estimated at US$15 million.

Flooding is making life miserable in many areas of Bolivia. (Photo courtesy Latin American Studies IU)

Many people have lost small livestock as well, with the rains literally carrying away goats, calves, chickens and ducks. Long term funding is needed to make sure that families do not become even poorer and more vulnerable as a result of this disaster, Jackson said.

"Losing their crops and their livestock will make it that much harder for communities to get back on their feet," says Jackson. "Without a way to make a living in the countryside, more people will migrate to the cities - cities that are already packed with people and that are poorly equipped to handle more. This is why it's vital to look ahead at long-term, environmentally sound activities to rebuild livelihoods."

On the Brazilian side of the border, in Acre province, over 10 percent of the population of over 300,000 people also has been affected as a result of the rains. Over 7,700 homes have suffered flood damage and are uninhabitable and almost 3,500 people are currently living in temporary shelters.

While the Brazilian government has been responding to the emergency by providing food for the displaced, there is concern that waterborne diseases will spread among those living in the crowded shelters. Twenty-three cases of leptospirosis have already been reported.

The Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is working with partners in both countries to conduct assessments and has committed a minimum of $10,000 for the initial response in Brazil and an additional $120,000 to Bolivia for immediate needs.

Using funds from a grant received from the United Nations Development Program, CRS/Bolivia is working with local partner Caritas Ñuflo de Chavez to construct sanitation facilities for the 3,000 families from Santa Cruz that are living in temporary shelters. In addition to building latrines, showers, laundry basins and trash bins, the project includes community organizing and training on proper sanitation and maintenance for the facilities.

Heavy rains and flooding have also made life difficult for residents coastal Ecuador. During the past several weeks, houses, basic infrastructure, and crops have been severely affected in the coastal provinces of Los Ríos, Esmeraldas, Guayas and Manabí.

The Ecuadorian coast is almost under water, roads are flooded, and electricity and telephone services are out of service. Rivers in affected provinces are overflowing, and thousands of hectares of crops are under water; urban areas have been also affected, the WFP says.

On February 17, the Ecuadorian government declared the coastal provinces of Guayas and Los Ríos to be under a state of emergency. Weather forecasters warn that heavy rains will continue along the coast of Ecuador during March and April.

On February 20, protesters demanding that the government provide basic infrastructure in the Amazon provinces of Sucumbios and Napo shut down a pipeline station in Sucumbios. Oil pumping has been affected in this station, access to these provinces is blocked, and main roads are closed.