HIGHLIGHTS
El Niño-related rainfall affects more than 1.2 million people.
A series of “provoked” forest fires burn an unprecedented 600,000 hectares in Chile.
Some 1.4 million people were affected by disasters in the first quarter of 2017. The floods in Peru affected more than 1.2 million people.
OCHA designates a Protection Specialist to address violence and migration in Central America’s Northern Triangle.
Over a million people affected by heavy rainfall in South America
Since December 2016, heavy seasonal rains have relentlessly fallen throughout Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, triggering deadly floods and landslides that have affected more than 1 million people in Peru and thousands in Colombia and Ecuador. The United Nations launched an appeal for Peru for US$38.3 million to assist 320,000 people.
Heavy rainfall has wreaked havoc in several communities across Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Thousands of people are now displaced and living in shelters, vital roadways are damaged, and communities are now inaccessible, which exacerbates existing health and sanitation vulnerabilities.