ANNEX IV-3 EUROPEAN COMMISSION HUMANITARIAN AID OFFICE (ECHO) Monthly report number 2011/7 Month July 2011 Country South America (except Colombia for HA) Date of submission 02/08/11 Author ECHO Quito MONTHLY REPORT 1. SUMMARY / MAIN HIGHLIGHTS (1) Snow storms in Bolivia: Potosí has suffered its worst climatic disaster of the last 20 years. Extreme weather conditions and heavy snow storms have severely affected and isolated at least 2327 families with a total of at least 90 000 llamas in 5 provinces of Potosí, bordering with Chile. "Disaster zone" has been declared in the Department of Potosí. A SSR proposal for 200, 000 EUR has been approved to FAO, for providing humanitarian aid to vulnerable llama breeders affected by the cold wave and snow storm. (2) Snow storms in Chile: The Government of Chile declared "disaster zone" in 8 municipalities in the Region of La Araucanía due to heavy snow storms and extreme cold weather. More than 6,500 persons are isolated only in the locality of Lonquimay, being the most affected. A DREF project of 120,035 Swiss francs (110,000 EUR) financed by ECHO to IFRC is in process of being approved, in order to provide immediate aid to 1,000 families in the most affected areas. (3) Floods in Peru: An ECHO evaluation mission took place in Ucayalli on 4-6 July 2011 to identify gaps in the recovery phase. A potential emergency decision of 6 months duration of 2 millions EUR is under discussion. (4) Chile Argentina: Eruption of Puyehue/Cordon Caulle Volcano: Constant ash fall continues to cause affectation mainly in the Patagonia, Argentina. The eruptive process continues and is likely to increase. The level of alert is red: minor eruption. Flights disruption continues in Argentina. The volcano is under strict surveillance. A joint assessment mission was organized between the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) and ECHO MIC as per request of the Argentinean Government. The objective of the mission was to provide technical advice for the immediate mitigation of and prevention measures for a proper response to the emergency situation. The mission started on 4 th of July ending on 19 July. (5) Floods in Brazil: The worst floods in 30 years have been registered in the states of Paraiba and Pernambuco. At least 13 300 persons have been severely affected and left homeless, while 10 persons have died due to the floods. A total of 26 cities have been declared in emergency in the State of Paraiba. (6) DIPECHO VII Action Plan for South America Launching events for the VII DIPECHO Action Plan were carried out in the month: Peru 7 th July, Bolivia 8 th July, and Paraguay 14 th July. (7) Mrs. Dorothy Morrissey, Desk Officer for South America, visited Peru and Bolivia in the first two weeks of July. During her mission several ECHO funded projects in Bolivia were monitored, for Peru as well in addition of evaluation of the floods in Ucayalli, the SSR project funded to COOPI was monitored. 1/6
EVENTS Colombia Venezuela Guyana Suriname French Guiana Peru: Impact of floods still high in Ucayali Ecuador Brazil: heavy rains and floods registered in the states of Paraiba and Pernambuco. Peru Bolivia Brazil Bolivia: Heavy snow storms and extreme weather conditions severely affected the Department of Potosí. Chile Argentina Paraguay Uruguay LEGEND Floods Coldwaves Droughts Earthquakes Landslides Volcanic eruption Storms Fires Tsunami Epidemics Puyehue Cordon Caulle Volcano in Chile: The volcano violent eruption caused damages in the volcano surrounding communities and also causing major damages in neighbouring Argentina Patagonia region. Chile: Heavy snow storms have severely affected the La Araucanía Region. 2/6
ECHO MAIN ACTIVITIES START UP DIPECHO ACTION PLAN 2011-2012 12.000.000 DIPECHO: Launching in Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay Peru: Monitoring of SSR project in Ucayalli and ECHO evaluation mission on 4-6 July. Bolivia: Monitoring SSR projects in La Paz and Cochabamba. Monitoring Drought emergency projects in Chaco region. BOLIVIA Cold wave Potosí has suffered one of its worst climatic disasters of the last years. Harsh weather conditions have severely affected at least 2327 families, southeast of the department bordering with Chile. The snowfall that fell over North and Sur Lípez already caused already the death of a person and forced the provincial government of Potosí and the Defence Ministry to start the evacuation of the inhabitants. In both provinces, there are at least 7 000 people and 90 000 Andean camels affected. Coordination efforts for animal rescue are being carried out with the support of the World Food Program (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The Government of Potosí declared "disaster zone" the Department of Potosí severely affected by heavy snow fall. Aid has been requested to Argentina, Chile and Peru, there is an urgent need of helicopters to access isolated areas. Ministry of rural development has reported that more than 1200 llamas are dead by 16th of July, figures might probably increase once the zone is accessible. According to the Ministry of Defence, at least 90,000 alpacas have no access to any food and are at high risk of dying. The main livelihood system in these communities located in areas above 3 600 m is livestock rearing, specifically breeding of llamas as the only sustainable agriculture production. 20 Tons of aid has been already distributed and that rescue teams of the Military Forces have rescued several tourists. 3/6
The National Government has allocated 25 million of Bs (2.454 million EUR) for emergency response (food aid and medicines have been delivered as a priority). Private companies have contributed in the relief efforts cleaning blocked roads with their heavy machinery. However, aid delivered to the affected area is not sufficient and harsh weather conditions are hampering the delivery of aid. The Government is considering the possibility of declaring emergency in the department of Potosí in order to send more humanitarian aid and to mobilize greater collaboration in the area. PERU ECHO is closely monitoring the situation with its partners in Bolivia. A SSR proposal for 200, 000 EUR has been approved, for providing humanitarian aid to affected population in the Department of Potosí severely affected by heavy snow fall. The project will be implemented by partner FAO starting on 9 th of August until end of the year. Ucayali floods The National Humanitarian Network needs assessment in the affected area and ECHO's two assessments missions (10-12 May and 4-6 July) confirmed remaining acute early recovery needs in terms of livelihoods. The affected population has lost their livelihood and productive assets, barely surviving on fishing. Information gathered from official sources is not always consistent and often underestimates affectation. Major early recovery needs are quick restoration of livelihoods and reparation of individual shelters. Intervention is needed in the province of Atalaya, which is the most affected province of Ucayali Department, which has been affected by overflowing of five rivers strong winds, and electric storms that have worsened the situation. Floods have eroded the river banks along more than 1 km, completely flooding houses and public infrastructure (schools, community centres, churches). This province is far from the department's capital city Pucallpa and almost no aid has been delivered to affected populations in this province due to distances and high logistics costs. This is the poorest province of the region with high levels of poverty. At the moment water has receded but there are considerable unmet needs to be covered, such as livelihoods, food and nutrition, shelters, provision of non food items and disaster preparedness. ECHO is closely monitoring the situation in Ucayali. A potential emergency decision of 6 months duration of 2 millions EUR is under discussion. CHILE Heavy snow storms The Government of Chile declared "disaster zone" in 8 municipalities in the Region of La Araucanía due to heavy snow storms and extreme cold weather. Most affected municipalities are Lonquimay, Curarrehue, Melipeuco, Curacautín, Pucón, Cunco, Vilcún and Villarica. The decree will liberate the necessary resources for responding to the emergency. According to the government more than 7,200 persons are isolated only in the locality of Lonquimay, being the most affected. Most of the wooden houses are buried under the snow, electricity service has been interrupted and roads are blocked. In some areas 3 meters if snow has been registered. 4/6
The national COE is activated and is closely following the distribution of humanitarian aid to the affected population. ECHO is closely monitoring the situation in Chile. A DREF project of 120,035 Swiss francs (110,000 EUR) financed by ECHO to IFRC is in process of approval, in order to provide immediate aid to 1,000 families in the most affected areas. CHILE - ARGENTINA Volcano Eruption On 5 June, the Puyehue-Cordón-Caulle volcano eruption caused a considerable steam, gas and ash column of 10km high and 5km wide. A total of 4000 persons were evacuated. Due to the direction of the winds the ash column was displaced to the Argentinean territory, heavy ash fall was registered in the touristic zone of Bariloche, Villa Angostura in Patagonia. The border crossing Cardenal Samore, in Chile, the second with the highest traffic of the country and of the international access from Villa La Angostura in Argentina was closed. Continuous ash fall forced the authorities of Neuquén and Río Negro to close the airports. The volcanic ash affected an important area of the Argentinean Patagonia towards the Atlantic Ocean. Due to heavy ash fall flights were cancelled in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. The ash column was displaced through South Africa, reaching New Zealand and Australia disrupting flights and affecting thousands of passengers. Argentinean authorities have declared "disaster zone and economical emergency" the Patagonia region. The objective is to speed up the reallocation of the funds for the assistance of the affected areas According to the authorities the possibilities of having a significant explosive event still remain. This is due to the potential existence of big obstructions in the volcanic duct for the transit of the lava or to changes in the dynamics of the eruption. However, the probability of having an event of the magnitude of the first eruption phase is very low. Main risks are ash fall and secondary lahars generated by the damming of the streams caused by rains. The eruptive process continues and is likely to increase. The level of alert is red: minor eruption. Disruption of flights continues in Argentina due to continuous ash fall. A joint assessment mission was organized between the UN and ECHO MIC as per request of the Argentinean Government due to the large eruption of the Puyehue Volcano eruption in Chile. *UN: United Nations Environment Programme UNEP and OCHA/ MIC experts in geology and environmental contamination. The MIC technical cooperation mission team composed of 3 selected experts arrived on 04/07/2011 to Buenos Aires for 2 weeks. Meetings were carried out with the EU Delegation, Argentinean authorities and the UN (Ministry of Interior, Civil Protection Authorities, World Bank, Civil Defence, Armed Forces, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Space Agency CONAE, Governor of Neuquén). The joint UN/EU team started its field visit in the province of Neuquén. In close collaboration with the Civil Protection, the objective of the mission was to provide technical advice for the immediate mitigation of and prevention measures for a proper response to the emergency situation. The mission visited most affected regions of Neuquén, Río Negro and Chubut. ECHO continues closely monitoring the situation. 5/6
VII DIPECHO ACTION PLAN DIPECHO launching meetings were undertaken in each country and projects are ongoing. Regional Humanitarian response and main issue Sources: (CIIFEN), International research centre on el Niño Regional rainfall forecast July September 2011 Venezuela: More probabilities of in most of the country. Colombia: More probabilities of in the Caribbean, while the Andean region more probabilities of normal precipitations. Ecuador: More probabilities of in the central and southern Andean highlands. More probabilities of precipitation below normal levels in the coastal region. Peru: More probabilities of normal precipitation in the Andean highlands. In the northern part of the Amazon region more probabilities of precipitation above normal levels. Bolivia: More probabilities of in the central part of the country. In the other regions more probabilities of precipitations below normal levels. Chile: More probabilities of normal precipitations in the central and Austral regions. In the southern region more probabilities of precipitations above normal levels. Argentina: More probabilities of in the north, central regions of the country and Patagonian coast. In the other regions of the country precipitations below normal levels. 6/6