Peru
[ Rain Rampage | Flood Fury | Mudslides ]
[ Disease | Taking Charge ]
[ Finances ]
Peru |
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[ Rain Rampage | Flood Fury | Mudslides ] |
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[ Disease | Taking Charge ] |
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[ Finances ] |
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When the trade winds reverse direction, they head right for the coast of South America. So, inevitably Peru always suffers from a harsh El Niņo. This El Niņo was no different, and the rain hit the country hard. This barrage of rain lead to more disasters (see below) and a thoroughly wet winter season. In past El Niņo years, such as the 1982-83 El Niņo, northern Peru was hit the hardest, so government officials used this as their guide and concentrated on northern Peru this year. However, El Niņo tricked them and hit Peru's neglected southern mountains and deserts this year. Rain has done a lot of harm to Peru, as well. For example, hard rains helped wash away bridges and villages. In March, a Peruvian air force plane crashed in Piura because of the rain, killing twelve people. The plane was trying to evacuate people stranded by El Niņo floods.
This winter, many Peruvian families lived in waist-deep floodwater, sewage, and garbage brought into their homes by floods. These floods hit ninety percent of Ica, Peru, demolishing shanty-towns that weren't built for rain and also destroying 14,000 adobe homes. Four people died in Ica, which is about 160 miles southeast of the capital Lima. Fifteen more residents disappeared, and tens of thousands fled their homes, sometimes to shelters without electricity or running water. And all that happened in a city of 160,000 people that is surrounded by desert. This flooding was the worst Ica has ever had. For example, the central plaza, which hasn't been flooded in four hundred years, was filled with muddy water in ten minutes. Floods also hit all over Peru, causing many more cities to be devastated. 992 kilometers of the Pan-American highway was washed away, dry river beds turned into rivers, villages and highways were swept away, and even a cemetery was washed out by a flood. Fifty bridges have collapsed because of rains and floods, and another twenty-eight have been damaged.
All of this rain that was brought by El Niņo, when it settled off the coast of Peru, has led to disasters like floods and mudslides. The water loosens the soil and makes it easier to slide, demolishing everything above and below it along the way. Between floods and mudslides brought on by El Niņo, nearly two hundred people in Peru have died and tens of thousands more have been left homeless. To learn more about what causes a mudslide, check out the Glossary.
El Niņo brought lots of water that is now a perfect home for diseases and epidemics that can be spread by mosquitoes and bacteria in the stagnant floodwaters and destroyed towns. With high temperatures this year because of El Niņo, the insect population increased to bring more ways to spread diseases. Twin outbreaks of cholera and another unidentified fever have spread in areas that El Niņo hit earlier this year, killing at least twenty-seven people and infecting hundreds more.
The Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori had a big job this year because of El Niņo. However, he knew how to handle it. As a meticulous, crisis-thriving man who tries to do everything himself, Fujimori ran all up and down Peru this year checking on conditions all over the country. Almost non-stop, and taking naps along the way, Fujimori kept his body guards and close friends busy in his trek across the country. His activities range from shaking hands, reassuring now-homeless citizens, and passing out emergency kits in an organized fashion so everyone will get one.
This whole event actually helped Fujimori in the poles. With another election in the year 2000, Fujimori's popularity rose from twenty percent to forty-five percent from this crisis. However, not everyone is happy with what he is doing. Many people think he's only doing it for the publicity, or that he isn't delegating enough responsibility, or that he isn't communicating with local authorities so he can get all the credit. Even despite his bad reputation in Ica, Peru, the mayor Carlos Ramos defended him when he said that some congressmen were invited into the damaged houses to see how the residents were, but they wouldn't because it smelled bad. Fujimori is the one who is willing to get his hands dirty.
Peru was hit hard by El Niņo, so they suffered financially as well. Along with the losses of both people and possessions, money was also lost. First, in preventing El Niņo money was dished out in fixing things before El Niņo hit. Then after El Niņo did its damage, there were many homeless people to be taken care of with blankets and emergency kits, and repairs of houses, streets, and whole towns.