‘Vertical clouds’ would be the cause of heavy rains in Ecuador

BAGATELA, Los Rios

Ecuador is suffering the consequences of a winter that seems to give no truce. Several provinces of the country have been affected by the rains, which – according to the Inamhi – are a remnant of the winter on the coast, and are produced mainly by the effect of the so-called vertical clouds, which are formed in specific areas and cause intense rainfalls, but for a few hours.

Last Thursday in Manabi, two parishes in Santa Ana were flooded; the same happened to sectors of Quito. Friday was Esmeraldas, where on Saturday the heavy rains caused a mudslide  on the route  Chone-Flavio Alfaro.  In La Crespa (Manabí), the way was opened at 19:30 on Sunday, however, because another heavy rain, material fell on the road and it was finally closed at midnight and reopened yesterday at noon.

That Saturday, in the province of Los Ríos, Ricaurte parish was under a meter of water; while yesterday was the turn of banana plantations and rural areas of Vinces.

On the other hand, two people died, one was injured and a mother and her 4-year-old son were swept away by the  current after, last Saturday, the truck in which the victims, all from the same family, were transported, apparently due to the bad weather, fell to the river Sabanilla, located 10 km from Zamora.

Yesterday, for the second consecutive day, members of relief agencies continued the search, without finding them, by the  Sabanilla river to Zamora, where the current is very strong, and its bed is rocky.