Alleast 6 people have died and more than 27,000 people have been affected by the heavy rains since January 29 in Ecuador, according to the latest balance from the Secretariat of Risk Management (SGR) released this week. The SGR also reported 295 affected residents, 50 homes destroyed, and another 5,401 homes with minor damages, in addition to 17.99 kilometers of roads affected and 35 bridges damaged or destroyed due to river flooding or landslides.
A total of 102 educational and health infrastructures have suffered impacts alongside 1,135.27 hectares of crops, the agency added. Since January 29, the risk management service has recorded 567 dangerous events across 23 of the country’s 24 provinces, mainly related to floods (about 62%), landslides (approximately 19.75%), collapses of structures (about 8.11%), subsidence (3%), wind gusts (3%), and sinkholes (1.59%).
The provinces most affected by the storms include the coastal Guayas, Los Ríos, Manabí, Esmeraldas, Santa Elena, and El Oro; significant events have also been reported in the tropical province of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas and in the Andean Bolívar.
The National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (Inamhi) has maintained a weather alert ranging from high to very high due to the presence of heavy rains and intense thunderstorms, with greater emphasis on the coastal region, especially the foothills of the Andean mountain range. However, warnings of precipitation extend to the entire country, including the Andean, Amazonian, and Galapagos Island regions, located about a thousand kilometers west of the continental coasts. According to Inamhi, this scenario is influenced by the elevated sea surface temperature off Ecuador’s coast, linked to El Niño, as well as by the activity of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, among other factors.