Flooding causes widespread damage across Bolivia

Heavy rains are causing casualties, major infrastructure damage and landslides in Bolivia. 

Rainy season lasts from November to March, and the current one has left 40 people dead, around 410 houses damaged and over 780 destroyed, civil defense deputy minister Juan Carlos Calvimontes told state news outlet Bolivia TV.

Calvimontes criticized municipal and departmental authorities for not issuing emergency and disaster declarations, highlighting that this oversight could complicate their eligibility for reconstruction funds.

“If the municipality doesn’t declare an emergency or disaster, that prevents other state levels from intervening using resources from our budget,” Calvimontes said. He added that while 86 municipalities reported flood related events, only nine issued disaster declarations.

All departments are affected, but La Paz is hit the hardest.

One highway linking La Paz and Cochabamba was affected by at least 13 landslides, news outlet Unitel reported, as highway authority ABC deployed emergency teams to keep other roads open. 

Some municipalities were flooded as rivers burst their banks. In Cobija, Pando department, people had to be evacuated by boats, the departmental government said on social media.