Helping Families in Flood-Stricken Areas of Bolivia
(English * Español)
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A resident of San Pedro wades through the
mud that floodwaters deposited in her house. |
March 2008
Heavier than normal rainfall due to the La Niña weather phenomenon prompted a humanitarian emergency in Bolivia in early 2008, as floods damaged or destroyed nearly
600 houses, displaced thousands of residents, and affected nearly 24,000 hectares of cropland.
By mid-February, torrential rains and flooding had affected nearly 57,000 families in seven of Bolivia’s nine departments, and resulted in the deaths of 71 people with another
5 reported missing since November 2007, according to Bolivia’s Ministry of Civil Defense.
The central department of Cochabamba, for example, received four times the amount of rainfall it gets on average, said Sidney Velado, a regional advisor with USAID’s Office
of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA), Latin America and Caribbean regional office, who helped coordinate the U.S. Government (USG) humanitarian response to the widespread flooding.
The Government of Bolivia (GOB) declared a national state of emergency on January 21. On January 27, U.S. Ambassador Philip S. Goldberg determined that the flooding warranted
USG assistance. In response, USAID/OFDA provided $100,000 to the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) for the purchase and distribution of emergency relief supplies, and the local Center for Health Investigation, Studies and Services (CIES) for health services for affected families in the Amazonian department of Beni, one of the areas hardest hit by the flooding.
USAID/OFDA also deployed an initial sevenperson team to the country’s most affected departments, Beni, Cochabamba, La Paz, and Santa Cruz, to assess damages, identify needs and deliver emergency assistance in coordination with other USG agencies, donors and GOB authorities. The initial team included Velado, as team leader, Field Officer Ricardo Herrera, Information Officer Liza Mantilla, USAID Mission Disaster Relief Officer Alan Hurdus, his assistant Marcos Arce, and disaster experts Sergio Lema and Gustavo Sotillo, surge capacity consultants with the International Resources Group, which implements the USAID/OFDA Training and Technical Assistance Program in Latin America and the Caribbean.
On January 31, Ambassador Goldberg presented USAID/OFDA relief supplies, which had been pre-positioned in Bolivia prior to the rainy season, to officials in Santa Cruz.
The next day, USAID/Bolivia Director Michael J. Yates participated in a helicopter assessment of the rice-growing region around the community of San Pedro, in the department
of Santa Cruz. During a public ceremony in the town square, he handed over to town leaders 1,000 ten-liter water containers and 1,000 hygiene kits.
The USAID/OFDA team participated in aerial and on-the-ground assessments to evaluate damages in flooded areas of Santa Cruz, Cochabamba, and Beni.
“Initially, just trying to determine which communities had been severely affected was a big job,” Velado explained. Road damage due to the floods made it difficult to assist the affected population, he added. For example, one USAID/OFDA team member joined other humanitarian workers on a tractor to get through flooded and mud-filled roads to assess
the situation in San Pedro.
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Residents in the department of Santa Cruz
worked to erect barriers to stop river overflows,
as seen in this aerial shot. |
Following the assessments, the team identified food, hygiene kits, medicine, shelter materials, mosquito nets, and protection of vulnerable persons as the main needs.
On February 10, USAID/OFDA airlifted 310 rolls of plastic sheeting, 1,000 ten-liter water containers, and 1,536 hygiene kits from its warehouse in Miami, Florida, to Bolivia. The following day, the U.S. Ambassador presented the supplies, which would benefit an estimated 2,000 families, to GOB officials in Trinidad, Beni Department.
“Our presence in Beni makes clear the U.S.
Government’s appreciation for and solidarity
with the Bolivian people, especially at this
difficult time in which the country is facing
severe natural disasters,” Ambassador Goldberg
said at the February 11 event. “For several
weeks we have been bringing relief aid to
the flooded areas in close coordination with
the Bolivian Government, the regional governments,
and the municipalities. We want
to meet the needs of the families that live in
the flood-stricken areas.”
Another U.S. Embassy aircraft airlifted more
than four tons of metallic structures to be
used for tent construction.
Prior to the rainy season, USAID/OFDA had
pre-positioned shelter supplies in Bolivia, allowing
USAID/Bolivia, working through
ADRA and CIES, to set up 210 tents and a
health center for affected families in Trinidad.
USAID/Bolivia also provided plastic
sheeting and metal structures to ADRA and
CIES to set up 100 tents and a health post in
Santa Ana de Yacuma, also in Beni.
“At first, the strategy was to use public
schools for shelters, but as the floods increased
and more and more communities
were affected, the school infrastructure was
not sufficient. Local emergency operating
committees began to establish tent camps for
people,” Velado explained.
Safe drinking water and preventing the
spread of water- and mosquito-borne diseases
were other top priorities.
Toward that end, USAID/OFDA purchased
and shipped nearly 7,700 mosquito nets to
distribute to residents of Beni to help prevent
dengue, yellow fever and malaria.
USAID/OFDA also airlifted three medical kits
to Bolivia to assist with community health
care. Each kit contains medicines, medical
instruments and medical supplies for up to
10,000 people for a three-month period.
Additionally, USAID/OFDA helped coordinate
the shipment of a donation from the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control from its warehouse
in Atlanta, Georgia, consisting of 48
water purification kits, 140 water-testing
kits, 70 individual field health and safety
kits, and 10,000 alcohol pads and 75,000 vinyl
gloves to be used in cleanup efforts.
To date, the USG has provided nearly
$800,000 in humanitarian assistance to Bolivia
in response to the floods, of which
USAID/OFDA provided more than $500,000.
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