Ecuador’s natural hazards are not just limited to volcanoes; possible tsunamis, floods, droughts are monitored

Ecuador is vulnerable to natural disasters due to various reasons, including its geographic location and effects of climate change that aggravate the impacts of floods, heavy rains, droughts, forest fires, landslides, and earthquakes. A this is added to the fact that the country is seismic and volcanic par excellence. Between 2017 and 2020 there were 1,461 floods, 11,336 forest fires, 4,157 landslides and 113 volcanic activities, according to the 2021-2025 Development Plan.

Of the 588,331 people impacted by natural and man-made events in the period 2014-2019, almost half (263,476) were victims of floods. Droughts (72,083), earthquakes (65,902) and volcanic activity (47,981) continue.

A strong eruption of the Cotopaxi volcano would cause lahars that would reach the Pacific Ocean

This is why the risk system has to be prepared to prevent, face and mitigate all these types of situations. Although the current situation makes most eyes fall on the Cotopaxi volcano and its eruptive activity, other areas must not be neglected.

To strengthen the capacity of decentralized autonomous governments (GAD) in disaster risk reduction and preparedness with a focus on food security, the World Food Program (WFP), in conjunction with the National Secretariat for Risk Management (SNGR), promoted the PRORED project.

Over two years, this initiative reached 5,000 beneficiary families in 14 neighborhoods and communities in seven densely populated cities in the provinces of Pichincha, Guayas, and Manabí. Not only were natural disaster drills carried out, but 14 community risk management committees were formed and reactivated.

The WFP delivered 300 first aid kits, 500 emergency evacuation kits, ten devices to measure the temperature and current of the sea and identify permitted fishing areas, 400 kits against fires and deforestation. In addition, a meteorological station was installed in the Rumiñahui canton and eight rain gauges were installed in this same town in the basins of the San Nicolás and Sambache rivers to measure the amount of rain in the sector.

A course of thirteen self-instructed modules was also developed and taught through the SNGR website. The WFP also supported the repowering of the early warning system of the Cotopaxi and Tungurahua volcanoes.

Matteo Perrone, representative of the WFP in Ecuador, indicates that after the 2016 earthquake they have focused on helping the country to strengthen its risk system with training and supplies to the GADs that are most vulnerable to natural disasters.

”The PRORED program has been financed by the United States and part of this work has been the strengthening of early warnings in areas near Cotopaxi, for example. There are sirens that are activated by something abnormal that happens in the volcano and alert the population“, He says.

Geophysical Institute fully monitors six volcanoes that are the most active in Ecuador

The WFP repowered 27 of the 55 early warning sirens found in towns near the Tungurahua and Cotopaxi volcanoes. On the coast of Manta, the WFP also supported the development of a monitoring and warning system for possible tsunamis. Sound alerts help guide the population to know where to locate.

“We have done training with GAD, educational institutions, with the population so that they know how to react when listening to these systems”, he points out.

The WFP is also about to start building a database to create a single registry of those affected by disasters in order to drastically reduce assistance to families and, especially, the duplication of assistance, since cases have been observed in Those affected by disasters receive more assistance than others due to the inconsistency of information between government agencies. The project has a budget of three million dollars.

Rodrigo Rosero, general undersecretary of the National Risk Management Service, considers that Ecuador has made progress compared to 2008 when a proactive criterion was integrated into the Constitution to leave the reactive idea when facing a disaster.

“It is one thing to have prepared to respond and another to be able to avoid. Many of the adverse events occur because the use of the land has not been adequate. We place houses on the edges of ravines. Since 2008 we have improved little by little in response capacity, prevention“, it states.

He says that before only the Police and the Armed Forces acted in a natural disaster, but now all State institutions and non-governmental organizations are involved in the emergency. However, he acknowledges that more work is needed with the GAD, which are in charge of regulate land use and better explain to them that although a volcano can be a threat, if the risk is well managed, a disaster can be avoided.

They have prepared guides that have been distributed, he assures, to the authorities of the towns with the highest risk. In addition, the Risk Management Law, which is awaiting a second debate in the Assembly, is a necessary resource that the country needs, says the official: “We do lack that sanctioning, punitive element, so that the local authorities know that if they allow housing in risky areas I can go to jail, even if it is four or eight years later”.

Victoria Sánchez, a resident of the Quevedo compound, in Guayas, received training and carried out drills to be prepared for extreme events such as tsunamis and floods. She says that this type of action seemed important to her, since in this way her town can mitigate the consequences of climate change. She now knows what an evacuation route is for and the safe meeting points if a natural disaster occurs.

Perrone and Rosero agree that the country must continue betting on a prevention policy, since this saves lives. In addition, there is an economic factor because it will always be more expensive to rebuild than to prevent.

”In Japan they had an earthquake and tsunami (2011), but you go now and it seems that nothing happened. They have a policy of prevention, of safe constructions. Unlike nations like Haiti (which suffered an earthquake in 2010), where there was no culture and they continue to try to rebuild and rise”, affirms Perrone.

The Japanese nation is a world example in risk prevention. In Ecuador there are certain sectors of Manabí and Esmeraldas that have not yet recovered from the telluric movement registered in April 2016.

Floods affect 3.7 million people

At least 21% of the Ecuadorian population or more than 3.7 million people are more vulnerable to losing their homes and land to floods. It is the third country with the highest risk in the region, below Guyana and Suriname, which share first place, and Colombia, in second place, according to the study Floods and poverty in 188 nations, published in the journal Nature.

Between 9% and 20% of Latin America and the Caribbean is exposed to high risks of flooding and rising sea levels. In the case of Ecuador, one of the cities at risk of flooding due to sea level rise is Santa Cruz, in the Galapagos.

There is also Guayaquil. In fact, international organizations such as Climate Central have stated that the sea level in the city could rise one meter by 2050. Sectors such as Los Guasmos, Puerto Marítimo, Trinitaria, Pradera, Kennedy, will be seriously affected. For this reason, international entities ask to apply mitigation actions.

73,083 people impacted by the drought

Between 2014 and 2019, 73,083 Ecuadorians were impacted by the drought in their territories. In fact, the Ecuadorian coast is currently experiencing a lack of rain that even brings the ghosts of blackouts again. In the country there have been great droughts in previous decades that have even forced many populations to migrate from their lands.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the province of Loja suffered a severe drought that forced a large portion of its population to move to Pichincha and various Amazonian provinces. The lack of water also affected other provinces. In El Oro there were between 15,000 and 20,000 people affected by the phenomenon and losses between 50 and 60% of the crops.

In Manabí, meanwhile, there were losses in large areas of short-cycle crops and in the livestock sector. Manabí is one of the provinces that is regularly affected by this phenomenon. It has been recommended to change the productive matrix of the area due to droughts. (YO)