Wednesday 27 August
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Rains In Panama Leave
800 Homeless
Nicaraguan Army to
Support Food Crops
Leaders From Latin
America, Caribbean Vow To Boost Sports Development
Cuban VP Ends Visit
to Honduras
Venezuela: No
Expropriation of Gas Stations
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Rains In Panama Leave
800 Homeless
PANAMA CITY -
Torrential rains in
Panama have left about
800 homeless over the
last 24 hours, director
of the National System
of Civil Protection (Sinaproc)
Luis Francisco Sucre
said Tuesday.
Sucre said that 170
houses were damaged in
the towns of San
Miguelito, Las Cumbres,
Chilibre and Juan Diaz,
in the east part of
Panama City.
"There were two houses
that were completely
taken away by water; up
to now we have not
registered any loss of
human lives," Sucre
said.
But some people who lost
their houses, furniture
and other properties
have already requested
aid from the government
and humanitarian
organizations.
There were reports of
landslides, breaches of
traffic regulations and
flooding of hundreds of
houses in a wide zone of
Panama City -- all owing
to the rising water
level in rivers caused
by the heavy rains,
Sucre added.
Part of the
Inter-American Highway
was affected by
landslides, which led to
traffic jams,
authorities said.
In Panama's San Antonio,
a tree was uprooted by
the river water,
crashing into a bridge,
breaking the main piping
system and leaving many
areas of the east part
of Panama City short of
water supply.
Sucre also said that
there is a risk of high
waves in the Panamanian
Pacific as the tide may
rise to as high as 13.6
feet (some 4 meters).
Sinaproc advised
citizens to take
precautions to avoid
tragedies and more
material losses since
the heavy downpour was
likely to continue.
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