PERU: HEAVY RAINFALLS ATTRIBUTED TO THE EL NINO PHENOMENON
Spanish/Nat
On Tuesday, heavy rainfalls attributed to the effects of
El Nino, have had disastrous results in
Peru's capital city of
Lima
People were stranded on river banks as the waters swelled and firemen were called in to the rescue.
Others watched while their homes were carried away by landslides to the river bed.
In Peru's capital city of Lima, the torrential rains on Tuesday broke all known records for this time of year.
They have been attributed to the El Nino phenomenon which has already wreaked havoc throughout
South America this year.
The people seen here had to be rescued by police and firemen before being swept away by the river Rimao in the city centre.
Lenkisa Angulo, said that the flooding in Lima was particularly bad.
She said that that was due to a combination of the heavy rainfall and the fact that Lima is built on the crest of three adjoining rivers.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"
The city of Lima is situated just on the alluvial cones of three major rivers, which are the
River Chillon, the River Rimao and the River
Lurin.
In the last few weeks, the river Rimao has had a notable volume of rainfall, including yesterday (Monday) when we noticed that about 90 cubic metres per second, which is a historic record for this time of year."
SUPER CAPTION: Lenkisa Angulo, director of the
Centre of
Disaster Prevention
Meteorological experts had already warned that heavy rains could be disastrous.
The consequences of the El Nino weather phenomenon have affected all residential areas in Lima - including the older parts of the city, modern homes and the slum areas of the city.
Many of
Limas poorest residents live in some of the worst housing conditions in the country watched while their houses fell from cliffs tops into the river.
This man was worried that the water levels could swell further, and hoped that the authorities would step in to help.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"For this reason they must take up the matter, the authorities and the government, more than anything if they do not concern themselves like here, so much water could rise."
SUPER CAPTION: local resident
Some felt that a state of emergency should have been declared and many blame the government for not paying attention to the warnings given by experts.
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