Ciudad Guayana is in "red alert" because of the flooding of the Caroni River

PCAD officials work in affected areas to collect data from affected people | Photo: @OviedoPSUV

Ciudad Guayana. – The municipality of Caroní is in "red alert" flood since Thursday evening. The first announcement was made by the Mayor of Caroní, Tito Oviedo, who through his Twitter shared that the Caroni River had exceeded the limit of 12.50 meters above sea level (msnm) which establishes the scale of civil protection early warning maximum

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The director of Civil Protection (PC) Caroní, Ángel Rodríguez, confirmed to EL PITAZO that He will keep the red alert, because in the late afternoon of this Friday, July 27, the level reaches 12.66 meters above sea level. The red alert is the area where there is expected to "severe effects" due to flood risk areas of the banks of the Caroní River, located in the parishes of Cachamay, Dalla Costa, Simón Bolivar and Oz de Abril. In total, the flood affected 368 properties and 498 families since the Caroní River began to increase this month.

"We are still evaluating the effects of this new flood, so the number will increase," said Rodríguez. before giving more details.

The affected people are duplicated

On Monday of this week, PC Caroni gave a press conference in which he revealed that the river was 11.92 meters high, which meant "alert yellow "or medium Flood hazard At that time the affected houses were 236 and the families, 262.

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Four days later Later, the Caroni River increased by 63 millimeters and affected 132 other buildings, resulting in another 236 families displaced by the floods. In total, for this Friday, there are 368 flooded houses and 498 affected families

The most affected, historically, are the parishes Simón Bolívar, Dalla Costa and Cachamay. For the persons concerned, seven shelters were installed in the aforementioned parishes and in Chirica

#Now We are in contact with the director of @PCCARONI Ángel Rodríguez and the members of the Risks Committee from Caroní. Levels of the Caroni River reached 12:50 msnm (Meters above sea level). Our teams are deployed to serve the families affected @NicolasMaduro pic.twitter.com/u9d0AUWNbh

– Tito Oviedo (@OviedoPSUV) July 27, 2018

Two dead [19659019] The director from PC Caroní, Ángel Rodríguez, revealed that this afternoon a girl of 1 year and seven months died in Campo Rojo, San Felix, in one of the flooded houses. The water only came into the backyard of the house, but the little one, neglected by the parents, fell into the waters of the patio and drowned. Rodriguez said that it was an accident and that the family stays in his house, because the water has not yet reached the room, the kitchen or the rooms.

The second death related to the flooding of the river occurred last week. The corpse of a fisherman identified as Iván Liconi, aged 50, was found on the Orinoquia bridge last Sunday. His disappearance was reported after the man lost control of his boat due to increased flow.

Every year

Year after year, families located in the risk margin of the Caroní River in Ciudad Guayana suffer the consequences of its location, and are inundated. All seasons are not required to be transferred by the state to safe areas.

The Caroní River develops as a result of the flooding of its tributary, the Orinoco River, which remains currently in yellow alert, at 11.65 meters altitude. msnm, said Rodríguez.

In 2017, the flows of the Orinoco and Caroní rivers have increased historically, as it has not been seen in 40 years. The flood left more than 500 homes flooded and 2,000 people affected. They lost their clothes and equipment, and the infrastructure of their home is still weakened. The government's response was to provide them with building materials for Barrio Tricolor [Barrio Tricolor].

A year later, history repeats itself and displaced people are relocated to makeshift shelters in public schools, without losing their assets. The mayor's office provided them with boxes from the local Committee of Supply and Production (Clap), drinking water, medical assistance and mattresses to sleep on the floor.