Weekly Report - 10 March 2011 (WR-11-10)

BOLIVIA | Floods. President Evo Morales has declared a state of national emergency after floods and landslides caused by the La Niña weather phenomenon left 52 dead and 14,156 affected in all nine regions, according to a report issued by Defence Minister Rubén Saavedra on 6 March. La Paz suffered what the Spanish daily El Paí­s described as the “worst urban disaster in its history," with some US$50m of damage to public and private infrastructure. A report by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent noted that 90% of those affected came from the La Paz municipalities of Rurrenabaque, Reyes and San Borja, the valley region in Cochabamba, and the Chapare region in Beni. The government has earmarked US$20m in recovery aid. Its official mouthpiece, Cambio recently cited a report by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) which put the total damage caused by natural disasters in Bolivia at US$10.8m between1996-2000; US$33.4m between 2001 and 2005; and US$60.3m between 2006 and 2008.

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