Post date: Feb 08, 2014 2:39:40 AM
Farmers and families count the cost of deadly floods across Bolivia as officials report those affected by the natural disaster has surpassed 40,000.
BEGONA, TRINIDAD, BOLIVIA (FEBRUARY 07, 2014) (REUTERS) - Desperate families fled their homes in northeastern Bolivia on Friday (February 07) as deadly floodwaters continue to rise in swathes of the country, affecting some 44,000 residents and killing at least 38 others.
Families bundled as much as they could onto canoes as they prepared to leave the town of Begona for higher ground after they were quickly swamped by the swollen Ibare River."There is no security, not for me, not for my children because this morning when it was threatening (the area) it was still dry. And now in the afternoon it's fall of water. And there is no end, it keeps rising and rising," said local mother, Teresa Suarez.
With more than 100 municipalities affected by floodwaters, families have been forced to venture out to higher ground with some communities reportedly left without food and drinking water.
"I'm now taking my children to another place. We're going to another home which they told us was on higher ground. Tomorrow all my family will leave this place," added Suarez.
Officials report that over 17,000 hectares of prime agricultural land has been flooded across Bolivia, devastating subsistence farmers.
In Hacienda Tres Islas, farmers are counting stock of lost cattle with many fearing ruin.
With agricultural communities and towns cut-off by the deadly floods, the nation's armed forces have been using barges to carry dozens of tonnes of food and supplies to people cut off by the floods.
The air force is also preparing to run flights to reach those furthest out, some of whom have not yet received any kind of assistance.
With relentless rains expected to batter parts of Bolivia until mid-March, some believe the recent floods could be worse than the country's devastating 2007 "El Nino" floods which displaced nearly half a million people.