rooftop refugees plead for water in flooded peru city
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today
Egypt Today, egypt today
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today

In the small coastal city shouted from their rooftops

Rooftop refugees plead for water in flooded Peru city

Egypt Today, egypt today

Egypt Today, egypt today Rooftop refugees plead for water in flooded Peru city

Residents of the town of Huarmey, 300 km north of Lima
Huarmey - Arab Today

Stranded on their rooftops by flooding and mudslides, residents of Huarmey, Peru ironically need the one thing they see everywhere they look: water.

As AFP toured the waist-deep rivers of mud that were once Huarmey's streets, people in the small coastal city shouted from their rooftops, "Water, we want water!"

Last Wednesday, the rain that has been pummeling Peru for a week sent a series of mudslides barreling down the hillsides of the Andes mountains and into the city.

The avalanches of mud, which Peruvians call "huaycos," poured into the city and the Huarmey river, causing it to spill its banks.

"It started with a little bit of river water coming in. Then, boom, the water attacked us. We couldn't do anything. All my things were buried," Paulina Farromeque shouted from her rooftop on Alberto Reyes avenue.

Just down the street is the police station, or what can be seen of it.

The first floor is blocked by a bog of mud that has buried a patrol car up to the roof.

Officers work as best they can from the building's second story.

Elsewhere residents attempt to stagger through the mud -- a dirty, slippery business. Where no ropes have been put up to cling to, people often fall into the muck.

"You have to cling to walls, to fences, to walk along the edges to avoid sinking in," said Eugenio Huertas, a local man who says he has refined the technique over the past four days.

Similar scenes have played out in cities up and down the Peruvian coast this week, including some neighborhoods in the capital Lima, 300 kilometers (185 miles) to the south.

Peru has been battered this year by a series of storms and catastrophes caused by El Nino, a warming of Pacific Ocean surface temperatures that wreaks havoc on weather patterns every few years.

Since January, 75 people have died in natural disasters triggered by the phenomenon, according to Peruvian authorities.

Nearly 100,000 have lost their homes, and another 620,000 have suffered damages.

- Solidarity, fear -

In Huarmey, some 40,000 people have been affected by the floods.

The government has dispatched navy boats with food, water and other supplies to access the city from the Pacific coast.

The military is helping dig the city out of the sludge, and Health Minister Patricia Garcia paid a visit on Friday.

But many residents say they aren't getting enough help.

"Helicopters fly overhead, but all they do is take pictures. Nobody comes," said Jorge Lopez, a fisherman.

For the most part, people are taking cleanup into their own hands, grabbing shovels and digging themselves out wherever they can.

In one neighborhood, residents paid 20 soles (about $6) each to hire heavy machinery to clear their street.

But beneath the solidarity there is also fear.

Looters are rumored to be pillaging local businesses at night.

And residents never know where the next mudslide will hit.

"The huaycos are still coming, and the saddest part is that they arrive at night. We need urgent help. We need water and food," said Luz Castillo, speaking from behind a brick wall she has built to block off her doorway in hopes of keeping out the water.

Authorities warn the city will remain at high risk for mudslides for at least another week.

Source: AFP 

egypttoday
egypttoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

rooftop refugees plead for water in flooded peru city rooftop refugees plead for water in flooded peru city



GMT 15:49 2011 Friday ,10 June

Oil firm wins injunction against Greenpeace

GMT 10:27 2015 Monday ,06 July

Mini to launch ‘Clubman’ in 2016

GMT 17:21 2011 Wednesday ,23 February

Lampard Desperate To Win The Champions League

GMT 10:13 2018 Tuesday ,09 January

Barcelona to unveil 160m Coutinho

GMT 23:03 2017 Monday ,16 January

Bank of Korea: Money Production Cost Rise in 2016

GMT 20:33 2011 Friday ,06 May

Asad\'s army arrests all men over 15 in Daraa

GMT 11:55 2011 Tuesday ,29 November

Ultrabooks could save the PC

GMT 13:02 2012 Saturday ,01 September

Zombies and Morons compete

GMT 07:31 2017 Tuesday ,20 June

Sisi keen on attaining unity

GMT 11:50 2015 Saturday ,26 September

The Library of Fragrance announces January launches

GMT 06:28 2014 Saturday ,18 October

Asian Junior Volleyball tourney kicks off in Bahrain

GMT 13:31 2016 Saturday ,13 February

Greek farmers clash with police

GMT 07:40 2012 Friday ,06 July

Deeds, not words, matter the most

GMT 14:16 2016 Wednesday ,23 November

Gigi sorry for ‘racist’ Melania Trump impression

GMT 22:52 2011 Tuesday ,26 April

Nigeria prepares for parliamentary elections

GMT 20:35 2016 Tuesday ,04 October

Paris climate deal: EU backs landmark agreement

GMT 10:50 2016 Thursday ,01 September

India's Reliance announces launch

GMT 09:34 2016 Friday ,30 September

Rosetta spacecraft set for final comet crash landing

GMT 06:27 2017 Wednesday ,28 June

Rakeen Georgia ex-CEO faces trial in Georgia
 
 Egypt Today Facebook,egypt today facebook  Egypt Today Twitter,egypt today twitter Egypt Today Rss,egypt today rss  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
egypttoday, Egypttoday, Egypttoday