Bolivia: Floods - Jan 2015

Between January and April 2015, 32,000 families were affected by heavy rains in Bolivia. As of 31 Mar 99 municipalities were affected in nine regions and four were declared under a state of emergency. 32 people were killed and approximately 19,000 hectares of crops were affected. The worst flooding occurred on 20 Feb, when the Acre River flooded the city of Cobija, capital of Pando. At least 1,127 families were affected with severe damage to or complete destruction of their homes. Dozens of families will remain in shelters for at least a few months. The UN System allocated a US$40,000 Emergency Cash Grant to support the Government’s response actions. These funds will be implemented by IOM, UNICEF, UNFPA and FAO. The Bolivian Red Cross mobilized a DREF for 193,101 Swiss francs. (OCHA, 30 Apr 2015)

Since the end of April 2015, hail storms, torrential rains, overflowing rivers, floods and strong winds affected 5,240 families (about 26,200 people) and left 2 dead in the departments of La Paz, Chuquisaca, Potosi, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. In the department of Santa Cruz and part of Cochabamba rains have increased while temperatures are decreasing, causing local authorities to declare a state of emergency. (OCHA, 20 Jul 2015) As of 23 July, more than 9,000 families were affected, with 7 municipalities in the state of Santa Cruz declared disaster zones. (OCHA, 23 Jul 2015)

At mid-August the government was still providing relief supplies to affected families in Santa Cruz villages. (Gov't of Bolivia, 16 Aug 2015)

The findings of an assessment carried out at the end of August indicated that 15,000 people were in need of food assistance in the five most affected municipalities of the Santa Cruz department, and that the floods had destroyed 60,000 hectares of crops, 402 houses and a large number of roads and bridges, leaving more than 33,000 people isolated. (WFP, 7 Sep 2015) Mid-September some 3,000 households received food help in the municipalities of San Pedro, Minero, Santa Rosa del Sara, Fernández Alonso y San Julián. (RedHum, 13 Sep 2015)

Due to heavy and constant rains over the majority of the county in October, Bolivia’s National Meteorological and Hydrology Service (SENAMHI) declared an orange alert for the norther part of La Paz, areas of Cochabamba, and the southern regions of Beni and Santa Cruz. (OCHA, 2 Nov 2015)