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For weeks excessive rain, floods and mudslides have caused devastating damage in affected areas especially in northern and central Peru. Today March 25, 2017 COEN, the Natioanl Emergency Operation Center updated once again the sad numbers:
- 85 people lost their life
- 20 citizens are still missing
- 347 people have been injured
- 120,899 Peruvians are homeless
- 742,101 citizens have been affected by the disaster
The damage to houses, infrastructure and agricultural land caused by the disaster is difficult to assess. Right now reports state that
- 12,987 buildings are completely destroyed
- 13,974 houses have been declared uninhabitable
- Over 10,000 homes are flooded
- 149,541 buildings are damaged
- About 20% of the country’s roads are damaged
- Over 100 bridges collapsed
- 40 schools are destroyed
- 1,391 schools are affected by rain, mud and flooding
- Hundreds of hospitals and health center suffered damages
- Damages to agricultural land cannot be precisely assessed at the moment
As a complete overview of the damage will only be visible after the waters recedes and as more rainfall with presumably more flooding and mudslides is predicted for northern and central Peru, these numbers might increase.
Peruvian Minister of Transport and Communication Martín Vizcarra announced during a visit to Casma and Huarmey, badly affected provinces in northern Peru, that rebuilding the area destroyed by mudslides and flooding will take years.
Nevertheless, according to him the Northern PanAmerican Highway connecting Lima with the northern Peruvian provinces and Ecuador will be passable again by mid-April. He assured citizens that the Peruvian government is aware of the serious situation and does everything in its power to rebuilt the country as quick as possible – not an easy task, but doable if everyone in Peru stands and works together.
