Amazônia Onlus’ appeal: “Floods cause vulnerability, loss of property and disease. Families have to leave their homes. We need everything. “
“In the Amazon we are experiencing exceptional flooding. This year the port of Manaus recorded a record level of 30.02 meters on the Rio Negro, the highest since 1902, when the measurements began. With water invading the houses on the banks of rivers, the local population is in a situation of extreme vulnerability. They are losing their assets and are increasingly exposed to the risk of contracting diseases, as well as food safety problems. Covid was not enough “. Emanuela Evangelista, directly from the Amazon, tells what is happening in the rainforest: an emergency that is still not talked about abroad.
“Floods are ordinary seasonal events to which local populations are accustomed and normally prepared to face, but the Amazon is increasingly affected by extreme phenomena, probably exasperated by climate chaos”, says the president Amazônia Onlus, highlighting that this year all the normal precautions were not enough.
The Amazon basin has its natural cycle: from June to November, with the so-called “vazante”, the water drops and from December to May the water rises, flooding the area. In the last decade, according to the findings of the Rede Hidrometeorológica Nacional, the ebb and flow process has become more pronounced, with increasingly extreme water levels in rivers.
Following the exceptional floods in progress, crops are ending up under water along with small farms, fishing is becoming increasingly difficult due to the vastness of the flooded areas. Getting food has become increasingly difficult and many families have had to leave their homes in the midst of the pandemic, despite living on stilts. Everything is needed: food, drugs, hygiene products, fuel for travel, economic resources to repair the damage and rebuild.
We have alerted local authorities, collected images and testimonies and sent petitions for a state of emergency to be declared. We will bring help in this difficult time and in post-flooding, when it will be necessary to assess the damage and remedy it.
Let’s not leave them alone.
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