OCHA Situation Report No. 7
Bolivia: Floods
23 February 2007


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

This situation report is based on information received from UN Agencies, 
the Government of Bolivia, the UN Emergency Technical Team (UNETT) in 
Bolivia and the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination team (UNDAC). 
SITUATION OVERVIEW

1. Heavy rain continues to batter most of the country, filling up rivers 
in record times. Over the weekend the department of Beni was heavily 
affected by floods from Mamore, Isiboro and Secure rivers. An estimated 
10,000 additional people have been affected and most of them have had to 
search for temporary shelter. More and more schools are used as shelter 
and as improvised camps in the departments of Santa Cruz and Beni. 
Although numbers have not reached epidemic proportions, there are 
reports of dengue, malaria, gastrointestinal and skin diseases outbreaks 
scattered through out the country. The Health Ministry, in coordination 
with the sectoral working groups and their provincial counterparts, are 
closely monitoring the health situation. There are a few communities 
that have become inaccessible due to landslides in main roads (from 
Santa Cruz to Beni). Air rescue operations are limited, due to the small 
amount of helicopters and weather restrictions. According to weather 
forecasts, a cold front is expected to affect the departments of Santa 
Cruz, Cochabamba, Beni and north of La Paz, with possible freezes in 
Chuquisaca and Tarija.

2 The Civil Defense Vice Minister reported that 34 people died while six 
are missing. Moreover, according to the Bolivian Civil Defense, new data 
indicates that some 70,509 families (more than 350,000 persons) have 
been affected in 8 out of 9 concerned areas with an increase of affected 
families.

(table below updated by national authorities).

|----------+----------+----------+------------+------------|
|Department| Families | Hectares |Home/Bridge | Road/homes |
|          |    a*    |    a*    |     a*     |   a* |  d* |
|----------+----------+----------+------------+------+-----|
|  La Paz  |     8,867|  2,682.00|       41/22|     2|    0|
|----------+----------+----------+------------+------+-----|
| Co/bamba |     7,300|  3,870.00|        10/0|     1|   10|
|----------+----------+----------+------------+------+-----|
|  Oruro   |       514|      0.01|         0/0|     0|    0|
|----------+----------+----------+------------+------+-----|
| St. Cruz |    17,092| 60.000.00|        51/0|     7|   35|
|----------+----------+----------+------------+------+-----|
|  Tarija  |     3,527|      0.00|         4/1|     1|    4|
|----------+----------+----------+------------+------+-----|
| Chu/saca |    6,159^|  4,241.52|         4/0|     1|    9|
|----------+----------+----------+------------+------+-----|
|  Potosi  |     9,752|     57.24|         0/0|     0|    0|
|----------+----------+----------+------------+------+-----|
|   Beni   |    17,298|      0.00|       410/-|     3|    4|
|----------+----------+----------+------------+------+-----|
|  Pando   |         0|      0.00|         0/0|     0|    0|
|----------+----------+----------+------------+------+-----|
|  TOTAL   |    70,509| 70,850.77|       520/3|    15|   53|
|----------+----------+----------+------------+------+-----|

^ UNDAC Team. at Chuquisaca
a* Affected
d* Destroyed


3. In Santa Cruz, Beni, Potosi, Cochabamba, Chuquisaca and La Paz, 
entire communities have lost their all their livelihood.

4. Lack of sanitation and hygiene in the affected areas is becoming a 
secondary threat to the population. Stagnant waters are a breading 
ground for the proliferation of vectors increasing the risk of malaria, 
leishmaniasis, hanta virus and dengue. Surveillance is been conducted 
and cases are being reported to the National COE. The health department 
states that figures still remain on an endemic scale.

5. National and Departmental COEs (emergency operations committees) 
continue to process information provided by the local municipalities and 
communities. SUMA (Humanitarian Supply Management System) has been 
activated in Santa Cruz.

6. Coordination meetings are held at the national and Departmental COEs 
level almost daily to better understand progress made and challenges 
ahead. Early warning information continues to be shared to improve the 
response. Local municipalities in the Santa Cruz province are 
considering relocating entire vulnerable communities until the water 
subsides.

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