A view of Caracas, Venezuela
Latin America: Week in Review, Venezuela

Floods In Venezuela Kill 21 And Leave Thousands More Stranded

December 1, 2010 By Staff

A view of Caracas, Venezuela

Today in Latin America

Top Story — Floods due to torrential rain in Venezuela have left 21 people dead, stranded thousands more and idled an oil refinery.

Vice President Elias Jaua said there had been 21 deaths nationwide since Thursday, with 5,600 people forced to flee from their homes. Authorities confirmed eight deaths in Caracas and nearby states on Tuesday.

“I pray to God to help us,” Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said in a televised speech, according to The Washington Post.

There were long lines in poor Caracas neighborhoods where officials registered families to be housed in temporary accommodations including hotels, government offices and even the presidential palace. The government declared an emergency in three states and Caracas, canceling school and opening hundreds of storm shelters.

The storms also caused a power outage that stopped operations Monday at the Cardon oil refinery in Falcon and similar problems forced some units at the Amuay refinery to shut down. The Venezuelan government said that the outages would not affect fuel shipments, as it had adequate supplies on hand.

Many of those killed in Caracas in recent days have been children and adolescents. In some areas where the storms destroyed homes, people gathered their belongings and left.

“The only thing I remember was a loud clamor and the people screaming,” said 60-year-old Ena Romero, remembering when part of a hillside collapsed in her neighborhood and took other homes with it, according to the Associated Press

Floods due to torrential rain in Venezuela have left 21 people dead, stranded thousands more and idled an oil refinery.

Vice President Elias Jaua said there had been 21 deaths nationwide since Thursday, with 5,600 people forced to flee from their homes. Authorities confirmed eight deaths in Caracas and nearby states on Tuesday.

“I pray to God to help us,” Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said in a televised speech, according to The Washington Post.

There were long lines in poor Caracas neighborhoods where officials registered families to be housed in temporary accommodations including hotels, government offices and even the presidential palace. The government declared an emergency in three states and Caracas, canceling school and opening hundreds of storm shelters.

The storms also caused a power outage that stopped operations Monday at the Cardon oil refinery in Falcon and similar problems forced some units at the Amuay refinery to shut down. The Venezuelan government said that the outages would not affect fuel shipments, as it had adequate supplies on hand.

Many of those killed in Caracas in recent days have been children and adolescents. In some areas where the storms destroyed homes, people gathered their belongings and left.

“The only thing I remember was a loud clamor and the people screaming,” said 60-year-old Ena Romero, remembering when part of a hillside collapsed in her neighborhood and took other homes with it, according to the Associated Press.

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1 Comment

[…] Floods and landslides from recent torrential rains have left many dead and thousands more homeless, with the government promising to build more public housing and Chávez allowing some of those stranded to stay in the presidential palace. […]

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