Agenzia Fides

Lima (Agenzia Fides) - Since November last year, when the rains began to fall, until recent days, considering the 25 regions across the country, the total affected by natural disasters is very high: 53 deaths and more than 260,000 without a roof. The news, sent to Fides from the Catholic radio station Onda Azul in Puno, reports the data in the Report of the National Institute of Civil Defense (Indeci), regarding the consequences of heavy rains in the last 6 months: 53 deaths, 267,391 homeless , 9,383 houses destroyed.
Some mountain areas of the "Sierra" as it is known throughout the central part of the Andes that cross the country from north to south, are considered at risk due to avalanches, especially when rains are abundant, as happened in recent months. Processed data related to losses in agriculture have still not been carried out, because many cultivated fields were destroyed or wiped away by rivers and avalanches in many areas of the country, causing huge losses to farmers.
Only less than 15 days ago, the head of the Emergency Operations Center (COE) of Puno had informed that they were more than 100 hectares damaged by hail and heavy rainfall in the region of Puno. Only in the region of Puno, Andean highlands in the south, the Indeci had counted 15 victims, 25,834 homeless and 133,424 families with serious damage. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 04/05/2012)