The Ombudsman’s Office made a call to reinforce prevention and care actions in the face of the permanent increase in cases of infectious diseases.
Avalanches, floods, river overflows, landslides or completely collapsed buildings. The images recorded by the heavy rains caused by Cyclone Yaku in Peru show a bleak picture, while the Fire Department has already confirmed the death of a person in Lima and serious destruction in the north of the country.
“(It is about) a person between 50 and 60 years old, of the male gender, who unfortunately we have found among the rubble of the entire wooden palisade. Due to the smell, we suspect it may be more than one“, explained to RPP the director of the Peruvian Naval Firefighters, Carlos Huallpa Suca. The man was found at the entrance of Río Seco, in the Cieneguilla district.
One of the videos that have shocked the most on social networks is the rescue of a two-year-old baby from an avalanche formed in the Jicamarca sector of Lima. The recording shows two men pulling the child out of the mud stream, while a woman’s voice is heard saying: “He’s alive, the little one is alive!”
In Jicamarca-Lurigancho, a woman died from the landslides, a baby almost died, and the minister of health did not even appear in the place. What a rage, East Lima is forgotten, when there are millions of inhabitants in this place.pic.twitter.com/ppjU47f4BA
— Killa (@kllarth) March 17, 2023
Government stated the state of emergency in the districts of Ancón, Pucusana, Punta Hermosa, Punta Negra, San Bartolo and Santa María del Mar in the province and department of Lima, due to the impact of damage as a result of intense rainfall.
The measure is extended for 60 days with the objective of executing “emergency, immediate and necessary response and rehabilitation actions that correspond“.
🇵🇪 | Landslides due to heavy rains occur in Lima, taking everything in their path, including houses and buildings. pic.twitter.com/K7waDolczN
— Alerta News 24 (@AlertaNews24) March 16, 2023
The Minister of the Interior, Vicente Romero, launched an action plan to immediately attend to the needs of the most affected populations.
For its part, the Ombudsman those a call to the national, regional and local health authorities to reinforce prevention and care actions in the face of the permanent increase in cases of infectious diseases caused by the rains.
The public body explained that dengue cases exceed 22,000 and there are an increase in cases of leptospirosis, respiratory and diarrheal infections in various regions of the country.
Likewise, the persistence of rainfall and the flooding of the fields would have increased the risk of diseases in grapevine and avocado crops, hindering phytosanitary control tasks in the plantations.
On the other hand, the Multisectoral Commission in charge of the National Study of the El Niño Phenomenon (ENFEN) reported that it has gone from the state of “vigilance” to that of “alert” of the “Coastal El Niño” phenomenon, which causes the most superficial layer of the The Pacific warms exceptionally in the north and center of the Peruvian sea.
“Associated with this warming (…) higher-than-normal rainfall is expected, mainly determined by the rains in April, on the north and central coast, as well as in the northern and central-western mountains of the country,” the commission detailed in a announcement.
