15 DECEMBER 1997. ECUADOR: CLIMATE (FLOODING)

Seventeen small towns in Baba, Ecuador are flooded with water covering tens of acres of farmland to depths of four meters, drowning crops and livestock. Sixty to seventy families have been evacuated, ten times that number remain trying to protect livestock and belongings.

Some Ecuadorians in the highlands have donated a day's salary to relief efforts, other funds are being raised by a tax on admission to public events. Unfortunately emergency food supplies are almost exhausted at Civil Defense warehouses, down to only 1,500 blankets, 200 mattresses, five water pumps and five electric generators. There has been essentially no international aid. Roads are also being affected by the ENSO rainfall, with 1,800 kilometers of roadwork needed because of washouts and landslides. Several bridges threaten to collapse.--El Comercio, 14 December 1997.

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