Ecuador is currently facing a particularly deadly rainy season. Intense and destructive rains for six months in this South American country have already killed 57 people and injured 110, the National Risk Management Service announced on Saturday. Above all, the rainy season entered its seventh month in April and is expected to intensify.
Unusually heavy and prolonged downpours have already damaged or devastated more than 5,455 hectares of agricultural land, as well as more than 7,000 homes, schools or medical centers. In total, nearly 31,000 people were affected by floods, landslides and other damage.
The capital in mourning at the end of January
All of the country’s 24 provinces were affected, except the Galapagos archipelago, 1,000 kilometers off the coast. The Andean province of Pichincha, with 30 dead and 87 injured, was particularly bruised. A flood and landslide on January 31 in the capital Quito, caused by torrents of water not seen in two decades, left 28 dead and 52 injured.
Due to its location in the equatorial zone, Ecuador only experiences two seasons. Scientists further believe that climate change is intensifying the risk of heavy rain around the world because a warmer atmosphere holds more water.