Thousands homeless as intense flooding continues in Peru

Latin America

Abnormally high sea temperatures have resulted in heavy rains and flooding in Peru. It’s the worst the country has experienced in two decades.

CGTN’s Dan Collyns reports from Lima.

The rains and floods have killed 70 people this year. Officials have said it’s also left more than 70,000 homeless. Authorities shut schools as more than half the country is under a state-of-emergency.

After the heaviest floods in decades, Lima’s principal water treatment plant has been clogged with everything the floods have brought in their wake. Workers have tried day and night to clear it up.

More than twenty landslides upstream made river water un-treatable.

Lima, the second largest desert city after Egyptian capital Cairo, was struggling to supply water before the floods.

“The landslides have been extremely frequent, one after another, without stopping. We haven’t even been able to collect water, treat it and supply the city because the landslides have been so violent and turbulent..and they continue to affect the water,” Rudecindo Vega, head of Lima’s waterboard, SEDAPAL, said. 

Even more rains are forecast for this week.

 “More rains are forecast for the next few days, especially Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, of course the weather can change forecasts aren’t always certain but we’ve made provisions so that the authorities are in the right places to take the necessary actions,” Jorge Nieto, Peru’s Defense Minister said.

Peruvians have come out in force to help the 70,000 who’ve been made homeless so far. Tons of aid, including clothes, food, water and sanitary supplies are being collected on the patio of Peru’s presidential palace.