U.S. Provides Emergency Flood Assistance to Bolivia

On January 22, U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia Philip S. Goldberg declared a disaster in that country due to the effects of flooding. In response, the U.S. Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), announced that it will provide $50,000 through USAID/Bolivia to assist the communities most affected by the floods.

Heavy rains have caused major rivers to overflow in Bolivia, affecting communities in at least seven out of the country's nine departments and leading to preventative evacuations in some areas. The flooding has affected more than 10,000 families and caused landslides and road obstructions, isolating some rural communities. The National Meteorological Service in Bolivia predicts that heavy rains will continue through the next month.

USAID will send a team to Bolivia to conduct damage assessments in coordination with the Government of Bolivia. In addition, the U.S. Embassy in La Paz has authorized aircraft based in-country with the anti-narcotics program to survey the affected area and deliver relief materials from a warehouse in Bolivia funded by the U.S. Department of Defense's Southern Command Humanitarian Assistance Program.

USAID will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as appropriate.

For more information about our humanitarian assistance programs, please visit: http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/.