Bolivia declares state of emergency due to flooding

The Bolivian government declared a state of emergency in seven of nine departments as widespread flooding and landslides left at least two people dead, five missing and thousands homeless.

The rainy season, with floods and destruction of infrastructure in 34 municipalities, is expected to continue for at least another four weeks, defense minister Javier Zavaleta told reporters in La Paz.

So far, the government has allocated 90mn bolivianos (US$12.5mn) to help 8,224 families that have been affected by the flooding, many of whom stay in shelters, the ministry said. Civil defense has transported 10t of humanitarian aid to various regions around the country.

Tiquipaya in Cochabamba department has been hardest hit, as up to 6m of mud buried parts of the town, destroying homes and a bridge, La Paz-based newspaper La Razón reported.

Caracas-based lender CAF has pledged to extend an emergency line of credit, President Evo Morales said in broadcast comments. The government will help rebuild local infrastructure, state news agency ABI cited vice-president Alvaro García Linera as saying.

Meanwhile, 50 earth-moving vehicles and 700 members of the armed forces are working to dig out the mud and rocks covering Tiquipaya and to re-channel Taquiña river, public works minister Milton Claros told state Radio Patria Nueva.

Flooding in central and eastern Bolivia comes after the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expected impacts from the La Niña phenomenon in Peru and Ecuador, where governments have been investing in flooding prevention works.

Bolivia's government, meanwhile, has been focusing its efforts over the past year on water projects after severe drought in late 2016 forced state water utility Epsas to restrict water services in La Paz, a highland city of 800,000 inhabitants.

President Morales, who declared a national emergency and sacked top water officials for failing to warn about the lack of water supply, is accelerating potable water and sewerage projects as result of the drought.

The government, which completed the US$146mn Misicuni reservoir in March, has invested an additional 980mn bolivianos in potable water and irrigation systems over the past decade, according to the environment and water ministry.

The eastern Andean region over the past year suffered the effects of both global warming and the La Niña phenomenon, where cooler ocean temperatures cause drought in the highlands. Morales is seeking US$500mn in international emergency aid to invest in potable water and irrigation infrastructure.