The intense rains in Guayaquil caused 32 flooded streets and left three injured. The city received around 18 million cubic meters of water, according to Interagua.
A sector of Sauces, north of Guayaquil, flooded, on March 9, 2023.
Guayaquil suffers the ravages of the cyclonic event off the coast of Peru, called ‘Yaku’, which will cause more torrential rains and strong winds in the next three days.
After the intense storm on the night of March 8, 13 sectors of the city were under water. And another 32 avenues or main streets were flooded, confirmed the local Municipality at a press conference this Thursday.
Given the forecasts of more rains in the central and southern coast of the country, the direction of Green Areas of the Mayor’s Office indicated that they would close all parks and public fields in the city.
This decision is made due to the fall of 13 trees. Two of these trees fell and injured two minors, who were playing on a field in the Cisne II sector.
The balance of the temporary fort in Guayaquil includes other emergencies:
- 147 emergencies attended by the Fire Department.
- 54 rescues of people trapped in different sectors.
- 40 trees removed from the streets.
- Nine vehicles fell into ditches
- Five collapsed structures or houses.
- 80 attentions and transfers of people to health homes.
On the other hand, the concessionaire Interagua indicated that the city endured an extraordinary storm, which occurs once every 25 years. He assured that he received approximately 18 million cubic meters of rain, equivalent to 7,000 Olympic swimming pools.
Sump cleaning
As on other occasions, the Municipal authorities justified the clogging of the avenues and main streets.
According to the Cabildo, citizens continue to throw garbage into the channels that receive rainwater. During the event on Wednesday night, 20 ‘hydrocleaners’ teams were activated to evacuate the stagnant water.
“We took Christmas trees and mattresses from a rainwater channel yesterday. This generates clogging at a time of heavy rain and high tide”, said the director of municipal Risk Management, Allan Hacay.
Hacay also publicly requested that each citizen “verify the structures of their houses, if the roofs are in good condition and the drainage.”
