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Floods and volcanic ashfall affect thousands in Ecuador
QUITO, March 14, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Floods and ashfall from rumbling volcano
Sangay have destroyed around 60,000 hectares (150,000 acres) of land and
crops across Ecuador, affecting 350,000 people, the risk management service
(SNGRE) said on Saturday.
“We support the population affected by the fall of ash from Sangay and
floods nationwide,” President Lenin Moreno tweeted.
Moreno also announced the restructuring of “agricultural loans” and the
dispatch of “teams to assist our farmers.”
About 16,320 hectares have been destroyed by floods that have affected
several coastal and Andean provinces since the start of the rainy season on
February 1, according to the most recent report on the SNGRE website. Six
people have died with nearly 18,000 affected, it said.
Volcanic ashfall from Sangay, which has seen an increase in activity over
the past week, spewing vast clouds of ash, has destroyed about 43,000
hectares of crops, affecting around 330,000 people, it said.
Ashfall from the 5,230 meter (17,160 feet) volcano, located in the
southeast Amazon province of Morona Santiago bordering Peru, had eased with
none recorded on Saturday in the six affected provinces.
The international airport at Guayaquil, capital of Guayas province, had to
suspend operations the previous week due to the ash clouds.
Sangay, 195 kilometers (120 miles) south of Quito, has been in constant
activity since 1628, according to the state geophysical institute.
Ecuador sits in a zone of high seismic activity, with about 100 volcanoes
in an “avenue” along its slice of the Andes mountain chain.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1318 hrs