In Bolivia three people have been killed due to heavy rains and flooding.
One person drowned in a crested river and five others were killed in a vehicle accident caused by the rains in the department of Potosi in the country’s southern region where rains have been strongest.
Additionally, over 3,100 families are now displaced due to floods in the department of Beni, alongside the border with Brazil, says the minister of defense, Javier Zavaleta. The Rural and Land Development Minister Cesar Cacaric says that around 2,180 hectares of crops have been taken out so far due to the excess of water.
Various municipalities in Beni have been declared a disaster area by the government and President Evo Morales is promising seeds to farmers whose crops are destroyed.
More rains are expected over the next two weeks.
“God save us that these floods are like those of 2014”, said Beni governor Alex Ferrier. Record rainfalls that year left over 60 people dead and over 60,000 people displaced across the country.
Rains and flooding over the past several days aren’t limited to Bolivia.
In Argentina at least 10,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes and an additional 60,000 have been affected so far along the country’s northern border with Bolivia, the Argentine Red Cross reports.
Last night several people were rescued from the fast running Pilcomayo River, which runs through the northern city of Salta, due to days of excessive rains.
