Ecuador faces its worst rainy season in 15 years

Ecuador, where more than half of the territory was declared in a state of emergency, faces the “worst” rainy season of the last 15 years, reported on Friday the General Secretariat of Communication of the Presidency (Segcom).

“At the country level, especially in the coastal region and inter-Andean zone, rainfall is above its historical averages for the last 15 years,” the ministry said in a statement.

Between January and April, the National Secretariat for Risk Management (SNGR) registered 23 deaths due to the storms, which also left some 52,000 affected in that period, and destroyed numerous homes, health centers, schools and roads.

Added to this are 30 deaths and 58 missing from a landslide that occurred on March 26 in the Andean town of Alausí.

Rains and an earthquake that killed 15 people led the government to declare an emergency for 14 of the country’s 24 provinces.

“The rainy season has caused damage on a national scale. The provinces of Manabí, Guayas, Los Ríos, Santa Elena, El Oro and Cotopaxi register greater affectations,” said Segcom.

At the beginning of March, the port of Guayaquil, capital of the Guayas province, endured an amount of rain equivalent to 7,000 Olympic swimming pools.

The secretariat added that the Ministry of Finance plans to allocate some 200 million dollars to deal with the damage caused by the rains.

In February, Heavy rains forced the suspension of crude oil pumping for five daysbecause an oil pipeline was in danger due to the collapse of a bridge.