Bolivia and Argentina - Floods

Mon, 05 Feb 2018 06:09:00 +01:00

Heavy rain has been affecting several areas of central and southern Bolivia and northern Argentina over the past week, causing rivers to overflow, casualties and widespread damages.
In Bolivia, local media reported that, as of 5 February, six people were killed, over 8 000 families were affected, at least 10 people were injured and hundreds of houses were damaged in the worst affected departments of Potosi, Tarija and Cochabamba. Hundreds of people have been evacuated and over 50 000 have been affected by floods caused by the overflow of the rivers Rocha, Ibare, Tupiza and Mamone in Chochabamba, Tarija and Santa Cruz departments. National authorities, as of 1 February, declared Flood Disaster Zones in the municipalities of Guarayos and El Puente (Santa Cruz department).
In Argentina, one person died in the province of Salta and 10 000 people were evacuated due to the overflow of river Pilcomayo, in the border region with Bolivia of Salta and Tucuman provinces.
Over the next 24 hours, moderate to locally heavy rain is forecast in the already affected areas of Bolivia and Argentina. The National Meteorology Service of Bolivia has issued an orange alert for floods in the central, western and northern provinces of the country.