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Flood aid promised

President Torrijos visited the Ngöbe Bügle towns ravaged by flood waters yesterday, promising aid.

The Comarca governor asked for canned goods, bottled water and blankets for flood victims.

Sandra Alicia Rivera/LA PRENSA

washed out: President Martín Torrijos pledged to relocate the nearly 300 people left homeless when the Río Fonseca overran its banks Wednesday, wiping out homes in several villages in the Comarca Ngöbe Buglé. 1085025

Rains continued to fall yesterday on Chiriquí’s central mountains where Wednesday’s floodwaters swept away lives and homes in the largely indigenous communities along the Río Fonseca. Weather forecasts for the area predicted lighter rainfall and expected river levels to drop over the next few days.

President Martín Torrijos visited the site yesterday morning, pledging to relocate 300 people left homeless by the surging waters.

Regional director of the Ministerio de Salud, Guillermo Guerra, said that several cases of conjunctivitis and respiratory problems had been reported, and that medical staff on site remained on alert.

Officials with Sistema Nacional de Protección Civil (Sinaproc) confirmed that at least two people are dead, five are missing and 130 are without shelter in the hardest hit community of Soloy, in the Comarca Ngöbe Buglé.

Sinaproc has dispatched emergency workers and humanitarian aid to the area. Flood victims have taken shelter at centers sponsored by the Adventist Church, the Ministerio de Desarrollo Social and the IPT Joaquina H. de Torrijos.

Schools in the region remained closed in the communities of Boca Balsa, Boca Remedio and Boca Huso after rising river waters collapsed six rope bridges used by students to get to school, said Ausencio Palacios, governor of the Comarca Ngöbe Buglé.

The governor reiterated that flood victims are still in need of aid, especially canned food goods, bottled water and blankets.

Arturo López, regional director of the Ministerio de Obras Públicas (MOP), reported that heavy downpours washed out several roads in the region of Fortuna. Floodwaters were also responsible for a landslide of more than 200 meters, blocking roads in both directions.

Traffic to and from the province Chiriquí was tied up for hours while MOP crews removed debris from one stretch of another road leading to Chiriquí Grande in Bocas del Toro.