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What happened, where and when?
From 30 October to 3 November 2023, the departments of Alto Paraná, Misiones, Ñeembucú and Itapúa in Paraguay faced a serious crisis due to a historic ooding of the Paraná River. This situation was triggered by heavy rains in the eastern part of the country and the opening of the Yacyretá dam. The level of the Paraná River, which is normally 1.50 meters, reached a height of 6.3 meters, ooding a large part of the cities. In the department of Misiones, the most aected city was Ayolas, with evacuations and suspension of classes. On the other hand, in the department of Alto Paraná, the cities of Ciudad del Este, Presidente Franco and Minga Guazú were aected. In Itapúa, the aected areas were San Cosme and Damián. Finally, in the Department of Ñeembucú, which is surrounded by the Paraguay and Paraná rivers, the towns of Gral Diaz, Villalbin, Cerrito, Col. Martínez and Paso de Patria were mainly aected. In view of this situation, on 30 October, the Department of Alto Paraná declared a 30-day departmental emergency in order to take all necessary measures to help and assist the victims in the aected areas. On the other hand, on November 2, the declaration of emergency in the Department of Misiones was approved for a period of ninety days, which urged the ministries of the Executive Branch to take immediate measures to address the priority needs of the aected inhabitants and is based on reports mentioning oods caused by heavy rains, the ooding of the Paraná River and other events related to the “El Niño” phenomenon.