BOCAS DEL TORO AND CHIRIQUI ON ALERT

Raging floods hit more than 5000

Rivers in Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro destroyed house, roads and bridges in one of the worst natural disasters in recent years

MARIJULIA PUJOL LLOYD
mpujolstar@laestrella.com.pa

The worst affected areas have been Boquete, Cerro Punta, Bambito where so far four people have lost their lives and it expected that the number of victims will continue to increase.

There is no much hard news from the Bocas del Toro region, because the province cannot be reached by land, air or sea due to the atrocious weather conditions. Telephone communications were also affected by landslides.

The floods started last Saturday when persistent rains affected the rivers Cricamola, Guariviara, Mankrik, Chiriqui, Cañaveral and Caldera.

The second Vice-president of the Republic, Ruben Arosemena visited the affected areas on Sunday and the whole area was put on red alert.

Arosemena said that around 45 families were affected in the community of Paso Ancho and 39 children under the age of 10 and 79 adults have been evacuated.

The Social Development Minister, Patricia Roquebert also visited the flooded areas to assess the damages.

The Caldera river managed to demolish part of the road in Cerro Punta and in Boquete where the water destroyed the bridge.

Hotels near the riverside were swallowed by the fast rising rivers and the population of the highlands was evacuated in anticipation of the second onslaught.

The Chiriqui Viejo river in the Bambito area provoked a landslide that caused the main highway to crumble and brought electricity posts down leaving thousands of families without electricity and water.

Farmers are devastated, because hundreds of hectares of crops have been destroyed by the rivers and they are worried about how they are going to cope with the financial loss.

Meanwhile, President Martin Torrijos, who is in Spain on a state visit, said in a press release that he is coordinating help for the flood victims in Chiriqui, Bocas del Toro and Ngobe Bugle region. He is also requesting international assistance.

The First Lady"s Office opened a collection center at Parque Omar to support flood victims. The items that are most needed are baby formula, canned food and bottled water.

Publicidad