The mudslides caused by heavy rainfall washed away the mesa from the Ibarra-Salinas-Lita-San Lorenzo highway in two sections.
Ibarra
Technicians from the Imbabura Prefecture reported that uniformed members of the Ibarra Fire Department counted 28 vehicles trapped between the two landslides registered in El Guadual, on the interprovincial border between Imbabura and Esmeraldas.
The mudslides caused by heavy rainfall washed away the mesa from the Ibarra-Salinas-Lita-San Lorenzo highway in two sections. For this reason, the provinces of the northern Sierra remain isolated from the Coast.
The Ministry of Transport and Public Works (MTOP), the Prefecture of Imbabura and the Municipality of Ibarra mobilized heavy equipment and technical personnel to reinforce the intervention in the affected area and to remove the cars stuck in the risk zone.
Detachment of the mountain took away a section of the track table in the El Guadual sector that connects the northern Sierra with Esmeraldas
The detachment of the mountain caused the destruction of the road table and blocked the passage of cars, said Johana Collahuazo, a technician from the Prefecture of Imbabura, who announced that at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday there will be a meeting of the Operations Committee Emergency (COE) to analyze the possibility of declaring this route in emergency.
Geologists from various institutions assess the situation, since there is a presumption that there are geological faults in this sector.
The heavy downpours cause mudslides and floods these days, said residents of Piedra Negra, San Pedro and El Guadual, in the La Carolina parish, Ibarra canton, affected areas.
Luis Cazares, deputy director of Physical Infrastructure of the Prefecture, commented that they are looking for alternatives to enable an alternate crossing, in the Cahuasquí-Buenos Aires section; however, it is only a possibility, since it is a third-order artery, which is not suitable for the circulation of heavy vehicles.
Wilson Pozo, a resident of the area, reported that in Lita there have been five landslides on the Santa Rita-Getzemaní, Verde Bajo-San Francisco and Río Verde Medio roads.
Travelers must make dangerous transfers by walking over large volumes of dirt and stone to reach their destinations, he said.
Landslide in Chimbo caused damage to homes and the road; at least five families were affected
Rubén Rosero, a resident of a town near El Guadual, suggested the Guallupe-Chical-Tulcán (Carchi) and the San Gerónimo-Buenos Aires-Cahuasquí (Imbabura) roads as alternative ways to get out of the collapse zone, where they can circulate. 4×4 type vehicles only.
On Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, the inhabitants of the parishes of La Carolina and Lita were warned, through social networks, not to approach the banks of the Mira River, because a flood blocked the tributary at the height of San Gerónimo and could cause damage from considerations in neighboring communities.
They asked to evacuate those who live 100 meters from the shore, not to carry out fishing tasks or walk along those trails, because the situation is getting complicated and they recommended leaving those populations by the Chical-Tufiño-Tulcán highway. (I)
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