paraguay villagers heap sandbags
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

As flood threatens

Paraguay villagers heap sandbags

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Paraguay villagers heap sandbags

Locals in the flood-threatened Paraguayan village of Alberdi
Alberdi - Arab Today

Residents of a Paraguayan village that risks being submerged in floodwater were defying authorities' calls to evacuate on Thursday as a nearby dike threatened to burst, officials said.

The Paraguay River bordering Argentina has broken its banks at various points in recent rainstorms, forcing 130,000 people from their homes.

But in the southeastern village of Alberdi, many of the 10,000 locals were hunkering down rather than shipping out.

Floodwater has transformed the village into an island.

"The dike is leaking. Water is gushing out of it and our experts say there is a big risk that it will burst open like a tsunami," the country's emergencies minister Joaquin Roa told AFP.

"There is a wall of water heading south. We cannot wait any longer. We have to evacuate."

Experts say the tropical extreme weather phenomenon known as El Nino and unseasonably hard rain are to blame for widespread flooding in South America in recent weeks.

Floods have displaced 170,000 people overall in Paraguay, neighboring Brazil and Argentina, and Uruguay, officials say. At least 12 people have been killed by flooding in Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina.

Despite the risks, Alberdi's mayor, Federico Centurion, said about 50 families were not heeding his calls for them to evacuate.

"We are in the hands of God and the Virgin."

- Fearing a flood 'tragedy' -
Instead of fleeing, residents were piling up sandbags to protect their homes.

"The inhabitants of Alberdi do not want to believe that the dike can collapse," Centurion said.

"The speed of the water is striking. Added to that are the waves caused by big container boats that are constantly passing along the river. All of that is putting pressure on the dike."

One resident, shopkeeper Gabriela Gonzalez, reckoned however that "the authorities are exaggerating."

Disembarking from a boat in Alberdi with bags of merchandise, she said the water will not burst through the dike.
One of the soldiers helping evacuate villagers, Lieutenant Colonel Catalino Benitez, said they were meeting resistance among locals.

"They tell us, 'What happened in such-and-such a year was worse. That is their consolation," he said.

"They don't even like us to be here, although we have come to help."

Among those who did heed the warnings was Juana Vargas, who agreed to flee with her family across the river to the Argentine city of Formosa.

"We have not had a good Christmas," she told AFP.

"We have children. They are playing in the mud. There are mosquitoes. It's not safe to drink the water so they are getting sick," she said.

"I'm afraid there'll be a flood in the night while we are sleeping."

Roa said that if the river kept rising, he would "be obliged to apply to state prosecutors to order the use of force" to evacuate residents.

"If the dike breaks during the night, there will be a tragedy."

El Nino strikes every few years, associated with a sustained period of warming in the central and eastern tropical Pacific.

Last month, the UN's World Meteorological Organization warned the current El Nino was the worst in more than 15 years, and one of the strongest since 1950.
Source: AFP

arabstoday
arabstoday

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*

paraguay villagers heap sandbags paraguay villagers heap sandbags

 



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*

paraguay villagers heap sandbags paraguay villagers heap sandbags

 



GMT 05:50 2017 Tuesday ,15 August

20 killed in Takhar funeral attack

GMT 04:51 2017 Thursday ,13 April

Huda Kattan among top 10 beauty influencers

GMT 09:44 2018 Saturday ,06 January

Aoun to deliver speech in Rome this afternoon

GMT 09:14 2017 Saturday ,30 December

London stocks end year on record high

GMT 11:47 2017 Monday ,11 December

France's rightwing shifts after Macron victory

GMT 04:49 2013 Monday ,27 May

Feng Shui living room concepts

GMT 19:45 2017 Wednesday ,18 January

The UAE Releases Global State of the Future Report

GMT 23:40 2017 Wednesday ,18 October

OIC condemns terrorist attack in Jeddah

GMT 16:41 2017 Saturday ,18 February

FBMA International Show Jumping Cup 2017 competition

GMT 17:43 2017 Tuesday ,14 February

Spanish activists taken to court over BDS activism
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab 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 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday