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Flooding in Peru
Several areas of Peru are currently suffering heavy damages from flooding.
Reported by Tula Cruces, National Director NPH Peru; Monica Gery, Director of Communications NPHI and Iván Parra, Director of Fundraising Development NPHI
March 24, 2017
Since March 15th of this year, the Peruvian coastal region has suffered heavy damages from flooding caused by natural disasters in different areas in central and northern Peru as well as in the capital city of Lima. The regions of Ica, Ayacucho, Arequipa, Huancavelica and Junín have been severely affected by these floods. The areas that suffered the most are located in the northern part of Peru with extensive continuous rainfall throughout the month. These are the regions of Tumbes, Lambayeque and La Libertad, where it rained for 15 days straight which led to flooding of the cities and many landslides. There is a large amount of local habitants that have lost everything they own including their homes, land, livestock and in some cases their family members. In the most affected zones there is no running tap water, lack of food and the roads are damaged which makes it difficult to get help and supplies to the ones that need it most.
The updated numbers show:
99,475 people who lost everything
626,298 people affected by landslides
75 dead people
263 injured people
20 missing people
Homes:
10,538 sunken homes
12,123 homes with severe damages
134,125 homes with water damage
Information from the National Emergency Operation Center (COEN)
Also in the province of Cañete, where the home of NPH Peru is located, some inhabitants of different districts have suffered damages because of the overflow in the rivers and also due to landslides. Just five minutes away from our home, the rivers banks were overwhelmed with the water flow and flooded some streets and homes. The home of one of our staff sons has been affected by water entering the house because of a landslide as well.
At the moment there are still landslides and it is still raining. The alert of possible flooding is still in affect as we don´t know when the rain will cease, it is possible that it might continue through the month of May.
People are asking for help to reconstruct their homes, as well as for water and food, therefore the whole population is showing solidarity to help the victims. But there is still more help needed to be able to cope with the huge number of affected people.
NPH Peru Local Strategies
Due to flooding caused by landslides in different regions of Peru, Cañete, the district where the NPH Home of Peru is located, has also been affected. Some streets just five minutes away from our home have been flooded.
The home of NPH Peru is surrounded by irrigation ditches which serve to irrigate the fields next to our land. As we could also be affected by flooding as well if these irrigation ditches are too small to transport all the water at once, we took some precautionary measures to prevent the overflow of water. We bought shovels and rubber boots to start to work on the maintenance of these irrigation ditches. With the help of the staff and youths of our home, we cleaned these ditches and dug them deeper. Also we filled sacks with sand to put them on the edge of the irrigation ditches as well as in front of the doors of each house, to prevent water from getting in.
Because of the severe situation in some flooded regions, we have been affected by the lack of goods in the markets and by the elevation of food costs. To make sure that we will be able to provide food for our children, we already bought some of the products that don´t expire on stock to cover up to the month of April. But not all products are available or have affordable prices at the moment. This is disconcerting because we have 115 children, adolescents and young adults who we need to provide food for every day.
As Father William Wasson taught us and as part of the NPH philosophy, we also wanted to help those who are affected. The children, youths and staff decided to help our brothers and sisters who were affected by the natural disaster in the north of our country. We collected money, donated clothes and food, and we offered ourselves as volunteers for one day to help in one of the locations in Lima where donations are collected, sorted, and later distributed by trucks to the people in need.
Related Information:
• NPH Peru
• How Your Help Makes an Impact at NPH
• Community Outreach Program
Photo above: A flooded street near NPH Peru. Photos below: staff and youth at NPH Peru fill sand bags and help sort donations for distribution.
