Climateupdated 1h ago2 min read
Peru Declares 60-Day State Of Emergency In 1,380 Districts Over El Nino Rain Risk
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Peru declares a 60-day state of emergency in 1,380 districts over El Niño rain risk. Measures apply across all 24 departments and the constitutional province of Callao.
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Peru declares emergency
Peru declared a 60-day state of emergency on Tuesday in 1,380 districts across the country over the imminent threat of heavy rainfall associated with the El Nino weather phenomenon. The decree published in the country's official gazette said the measure was necessary because regional governments lacked sufficient capacity to respond to the imminent threat, requiring technical and operational assistance from national government agencies.
The emergency declaration affects provinces across Peru's 25 administrative regions, and it covers districts across 24 departments and the Constitutional Province of Callao. The decree also placed the National Civil Defence Institute at the center of technical coordination as regional and local governments implement immediate measures to reduce the extremely high risk, along with emergency response and recovery operations.
Where rain risk concentrates
The emergency measure covers districts including Lima, Piura, Ica and the exclusive economic zone of Callao, and it also includes districts in Amazonas, Ancash, Apurimac, Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Cusco, Huancavelica, Huanuco, Junin, La Libertad, Lambayeque, Loreto and Madre de Dios. 1,380 of Peru's 1,891 districts, about 73%, are covered by the declaration, and the measure includes all the places Pope Leo XIV will visit in northern Peru from November 13.
President Keiko Fujimori cancelled her trip to the Ibero-American Summit in Madrid on Sunday to oversee the response and warned of further rain in Tumbes and Piura on November 7 and 8. Grinia Ávalos, director of meteorology at the National Meteorology and Hydrology Service, forecast temperatures of up to 32 degrees Celsius in Chiclayo, four to five degrees above normal.
Security, coordination, outlook
The security operation for Pope Leo XIV's visit involves some 2,500 police, 1,000 soldiers and 6,500 volunteers.
Grinia Ávalos, director of meteorology at the National Meteorology and Hydrology Service, said, “We expect the Pope’s visit to Chiclayo may coincide with episodes of rain. They will not be heavy rains,” and Jorge Chávez Cresta expected heavy rains to reach Lambayeque after the Pope had left.
The World Meteorological Organization believes the probability of this climate change wave lasting until February 2027 is nearly 100%, with the risk of becoming one of the strongest El Nino waves ever recorded since 1950.
INDECI's assessment conducted on October 30 identified localities with a high risk of being affected by heavy rainfall in the upcoming period, and INDECI warned that the El Niño phenomenon will continue to persist along the Peruvian coast and develop in the central equatorial Pacific.