 |
CENTRAL AMERICA |
| |
700
Families In Panamanian Province Face
Starvation After Flooding
PANAMA CITY - About 700 Panamanian families
in Darien province on the border with
Colombia are now threatened by hunger due to
floods in the last three years, authorities
said on Monday.
Residents in the affected districts were at
risk of suffering hunger as agricultural and
livestock production in more than 20
communities almost came to a halt as a
result of the flooding, said Alfonso Moreno,
representative of the Agriculture-Livestock
Development Ministry in Darien.
The town of El Salto lost 90 percent of its
banana fields and 22 communities lost about
70 percent of their banana and rice fields,
placing these areas on the edge of a severe
food shortage.
Most of the flooding-affected people were in
a "precarious situation" and the National
System of Civil Protection (Sinaproc) and
the Red Cross have sent humanitarian aid,
including drinking water and food, to the
areas in coordination with authorities.
Darien province has been hit by pouring rain
since Saturday, causing the rivers
Chunchunaque, Chico, Tupisa and Turqueza to
overflow. |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
