Lima, Nov 1 (IANS) Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz has signed a decree declaring a national state of emergency to address the impacts of El Nino.
Paz said he signed the decree to tackle drought affecting several regions of the country and prepare for potential flooding in the coming months.
The President said the measure aims to mobilise financial and human resources, strengthen coordination among government agencies and seek international cooperation to assist affected families and mitigate the impact of climate-related disasters on people’s lives and economic activities, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Paz said 63 communities in Bolivia have already been affected by drought, while the livestock sector is also struggling with shortages of animal feed.
Bolivia’s Vice Ministry of Civil Defence said Wednesday that nearly 80,000 families across six of the country’s nine departments had been affected by water shortages, with drought killing more than 75,000 head of livestock.
El Nino is a climate phenomenon characterised by unusually warm surface waters in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, often causing abnormal weather patterns in many parts of the world.
Meanwhile, Myanmar’s Yangon region has prepared more than 600 heat relief shelters with a combined capacity of over 150,000 people to help residents cope with extreme heat amid forecasts of a strong El Nino event, local media reported.
The shelters have been arranged across 14 districts in the region, Myanmar Radio and Television said.
The regional government has also made arrangements to ensure the continued provision of healthcare services during periods of extreme heat, including at hospitals, clinics and rural health facilities, with medical personnel ready to provide assistance, according to the report.
Myanmar’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH) said a very strong El Nino event could peak in November and December 2026, based on assessments by the World Meteorological Organisation and international climate centres.
The DMH warned that El Nino could bring irregular rainfall, higher temperatures, unusual storm activity, drought and other extreme weather events during the coming summer season.
–IANS
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