Flooding of the Acre River at the border of Bolpebra

Brazil. The Itinerant Team of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians of t Our Lady of the Amazon Province (BRM), present in the Bolpebra border area crossed by the River Acre, where Peru meets, Brazil and Bolivia, recount the disaster that struck these populations between 21 and 25 February 2024 because of the heavy rains:

“The two border cities of Iñapari, in Peru, and Assis Brasil, in Brazil, have been flooded for 12 years due to the intense rains that normally occur in the winter period, from December to April. In this region, February and March are the rainiest months. The first flooding occurred in 2012, the second in 2014, the third in 2023, and also in this year 2024. Both cities are located on the banks of the Acre River. When the rains are abundant and the volume of water in the springs of the river increases, large areas of these two cities are flooded.

The Acre River began to rise rapidly on 21 February. In the late afternoon, people began to take what they could from their homes to the highest part of the city. On the 22nd, the water began to rise inside the houses to a height of about a meter, and in the afternoon, it soon dried up, as it normally did. It was expected that it would continue to retreat, but instead the second flood came, and then the third. All happened very quickly.

In Assis Brasil, according to the registers of the Municipal Secretariat of Citizenship and Social Assistance, 83 families, for a total of 345 people were welcomed in municipal shelters. In addition, 117 families stayed in the homes of relatives and friends, for a total of about 339 people displaced in the urban area. We know that even the indigenous communities living on the banks of the river have been flooded, but because of the distances and the difficulty of access, it is possible to reach them only when the river decreases its flow.

In Iñapari we still have no information on the number of people affected. We know, however, that in the two reception centers of about 300 people were provided with food.

In Assis Brazil there was a greater political, social, and ecclesiastical organization. Coordinated action by civil society was possible with the participation of the city council, civil protection, fire brigades, the army, and the Catholic Church. Families were soon displaced and housed in schools and sports arenas. The parish provided the training center to prepare food for the homeless and there was much solidarity.

This was not the case in Iñapari, where there was more disorganization and precariousness regarding the places of reception due to the lack of an emergency plan. Shopkeepers in the lower areas have lost a lot of their products.

We of the Itinerant Team – recounts Sister Claudia da Costa Matos – have been present on this border since 2016, which is why we experienced the last two floods together the with people. We managed to save our belongings by transporting the first part with the parish van from Assis Brazil and the second part, when the water had already risen, by canoe. The natives of Assis Brazil helped us. After taking our things away from the house, we stayed in the Jesuit house and every day we went to Inapari to support the people affected”.

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