Over 100,000 flee flooding in Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay

Over 100,000 flee flooding in Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay

More than 100,000 people have had to evacuate from their homes in the bordering areas of Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina due to severe flooding in the wake of heavy summer rains brought on by El Niño, authorities said on Saturday.

In the most affected country, Paraguay, around 90,000 people in the area around the capital city of Asuncion have been evacuated, the municipal Emergencies Office said. Many are poor families living in precarious housing along the banks of the River Paraguay.

The Paraguayan government has declared a state of emergency in Asuncion and seven regions of the country to free up funds to help those affected. Several people have been killed by trees falling in the storms that caused the flooding, local media reported. There was no official death toll yet.

In Alberdi, some 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Asuncion, the government recommended that several thousand more people living along the banks of the River Paraguay evacuate.

This year’s “El Nino,” which sparks global climate extremes, is the worst in more than 15 years, the U.N. weather agency, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said last month.

Officials at Paraguay’s Emergencies Office said the river might rise even more in the coming days, stabilising and falling back towards normal levels from January onwards.

In northern Argentina, around 20,000 people have also had to abandon their homes, the government said on Saturday.

Newly installed centre-right Argentine President Mauricio Marci sent his cabinet chief, Marcos Pena, to visit the region with provincial governor, Ricardo Colombi, via helicopter.

“In the first place, I would like to send along the greetings of the president of nation, Mauricio Macri, with whom we spoke a few hours ago, dealing with this flooding that the whole region is experiencing. He asked us to come here today to work with the governor and mayors, in the first place to send along a message of support from the national government, that we are here with all those in Corrientes in this difficult situation,” Pena said at a news conference.

“Undoubtedly, this a problem on all of us, and so we need to continue addressing the demands, which are constant,” said Colombi, at the same news conference.

Pena said national government aid was already on its way and Macri, who took office earlier this month, intended to make improving infrastructure a priority so that such flooding did not occur again.

In Uruguay, more than 9,000 people have had to flee their homes, according to the national Emergencies Office, which added that it expected water levels to remain at their current level for several days before subsiding.

At least four people have died in Argentina and Uruguay due to the storms and floods, according to local media reports. One was reported to have drowned while another was electrocuted by a fallen power cable.

Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff also flew over the flooded areas on the border with Argentina and Uruguay on Saturday morning. Rio Grande do Sul state Civil Defence said 1,795 people were left homeless there after 38 towns were affected by heavy rains.

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