Floods Wreak Havoc in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador

By Robyn Fieser

It rained hard last year in Bolivia and washed away a little piece of Casilda Palacio's 2.5-acre field. But this year, things are much worse.

In January, the Marcani River, which runs next to Casilda's family land in a small community in south-central Bolivia, overflowed its banks and washed everything away. Gone are this season's crops — rows and rows of peppers and peanuts — and the income they would have brought. The bags of potatoes are gone too, as are the family's fruit trees and tools. All that's left is water.

"Last year the river took a small part of my land but this time it took everything," says Casilda. "Now we don't know what to do, there's no land left to work, we're landless."

The Palacios are one of about 30 families in the Nogales community that make their living from small-scale farming — mainly corn, potatoes, peanuts and paprika — and raising livestock. Planting close to the river's edge assures year-round irrigation and rich, humid soils.

It's also a setup for disaster. When extreme weather hits, and it often does, the river overflows, inundating homes and fields.

Catholic Relief Services is delivering relief supplies to victims like Casilda in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. The countries have been hammered in recent months by torrential rain and flooding associated with the La Niña phenomenon. La Niña is a periodic cooling of the waters in the Pacific Ocean, that results in severe weather conditions.

Since the rains began late last year, 76 people have died and more than 3.7 million have been affected in the three South American countries. The governments of Bolivia and Ecuador have declared national disasters and are urging the international community to provide humanitarian aid.

CRS Responds

CRS has committed an initial $40,000 and is providing lifesaving supplies, including food, clothing, blankets and medicine, for more than 1,200 families in Bolivia and Ecuador. Meanwhile, working alongside our partner organizations in the three countries, CRS is developing long-term solutions to help families who will feel the effects of the floods long after the rain stops.

"The flooding in Bolivia comes a year after devastating floods hit the same areas. As rains continue in Bolivia it appears that the destruction of the 2008 floods will surpass last year's floods. And in Ecuador the flooding is the worst in eight years," says Holly Inurreta, CRS' regional technical advisor for emergencies in Latin America and the Caribbean.

She continues, "Unfortunately, the poorest are the most affected by these events as they live in marginal lands in high-risk areas and in inadequate housing. Even as CRS, governments and other humanitarian agencies respond to the immediate needs of the affected population, it will be important that we begin to plan and prepare for longer-term measures that reduce the vulnerability and increase the resilience of the poorest families."

The flooding wiped out thousands of homes and destroyed crops in all three countries. It caused widespread damage in at least six of Bolivia's nine departments, especially in towns and communities located near rivers. The torrential rains that continue to blanket the country have destroyed roads and bridges, cutting off vital interstates and, in some cases, further isolating more vulnerable, rural communities. Thus far, the country has suffered an estimated $30 million in economic losses.

Ecuador was the hardest hit. Some 216,000 people have been forced to flee their homes by the downpours, which have intensified in the last two months. More than 320,000 people are affected. There, too, roads and bridges and large tracts of farmland have been inundated, destroying about 247,000 acres of crops, including rice, cocoa, banana and coffee. In the western province of Los Rios alone, six rivers overflowed, rupturing retention walls and destroying rice crops.

Now, raw sewage is mixing with floodwaters and contaminating water supplies. Most communities do not have access to clean water. And while many families have been evacuated, most remain in their flooded homes.

In Peru, relentless rains, which have intensified in the last three weeks, destroyed 450 houses, ruined 14,820 acres of crops, and killed 2,000 livestock. All told, some 500,000 Peruvians have been affected by the floods, which have destroyed 33 miles of roads. Meanwhile, landslides have isolated towns and now threaten the central highway that runs from the capital city of Lima into the interior.

"The greatest needs so far are food, water and sanitation and shelter," says Inurreta. "Due to overflowing latrines and sewage systems, the floodwaters have been contaminated by raw sewage. We're worried the water pollution will spread infectious diseases. And in Ecuador, there is an extreme lack of safe drinking water."

The deaths of at least four children in Bolivia have already been directly linked to contaminated water and the number of reported dengue fever cases is on the rise.

Long-term needs will likely include housing repair and cleanup as well as rehabilitation of water and sanitation systems and restoring lost livelihoods.

Our Work in Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador

Catholic Relief Services has worked in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru for more than 40 years, building key partnerships to help communities prepare for and respond to disasters. We routinely conduct disaster- and emergency-preparedness trainings in the communities we serve to help reduce the loss of life and livelihoods.

Robyn Fieser is CRS' regional information officer for Latin America and the Caribbean based in Guatemala.