At
least 40 people have died and over 3,000 homes damaged or destroyed
after Venezuela was hit by a week of torrential rains.
According to the authorities more than 18,000 people are estimated
to have been affected by the floods and landslides.
At least 24 people have also died in neighbouring Colombia,
with some 22,000 people being forced from their homes in the
north-eastern part of the country.
The Venezuelan government has declared a state of emergency
in nine provinces: Aragua, Carabobo, Capital District, Falcón,
Miranda, Táchira, Vargas, Yaracuy and Zulia. Vargas,
where in 1999 more than 10,000 people where killed when massive
mudslides destroyed towns and villages, is the worst affected.
Many towns and villages have been left isolated after roads
were cut, forcing the government to deploy Navy coastguard boats
and helicopters to evacuate hundreds of families trapped by
landslides on coastal roads.
More than 300 Venezuelan Red Cross (CRV) volunteers have been
taking part in search and rescue operations, the transportation
of evacuees, collection of humanitarian goods and providing
first aid.
The CRV has also carried out an assessment of the extent of
the damage and the needs of the affected population. It is also
coordinating closely with those in charge of the temporary shelters
to bring separated families back together again.
“The situation is critical. The psychological impact of
the 1999 tragedy is still very vivid within the Venezuelan people.
Seeing the heavy rains, the rivers bursting their banks, the
roads being cut off, has distressed people, especially those
that were in the affected area due to the carnival holiday,”
says Francisco Ayala, relief coordinator of the CRV Caracas
Branch.
Yet the death toll could have been much higher, according to
Ayala: "The support provided in the dissemination of community-based
disaster preparedness workshops has helped people that have
been affected to react in a better way to the emergency, minimizing
the number of victims having only, although substantial, material
damages”.
In an effort to support the Venezuelan Red Cross response to
the emergency, the International Federation has released 100,000
Swiss francs (US$ 83,000) from its disaster relief emergency
fund.
The funds will help the CRV to assist 1,000 families located
in temporary shelters in the following states: Carabobo, Distrito
Federal, Miranda, Vargas and Yaracuy with food and non-food
relief aid.
There are concerns about a possible increase in illnesses related
to poor water and sanitation conditions, so work in primary
health care will also be required.
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Venezuelan
Red Cross workers wait to board a military aircraft destined
for the flood-hit western state of Merida. Rescue workers
are struggling to reach remote villages (REUTERS/Christian
Veron/courtesy www.Alertnet.org)
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One
of several roads cut off by landslides (p12602)
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A
Venezuelan man sits amid the mud-covered remains of his
house in Miranda state (REUTERS/Francesco Spotorno/courtesy
www.Alertnet.org)
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