Representatives of the academy made the exposition of the causes that generated the flood of January 31, 2022. They also made recommendations to avoid another natural disaster like the one recorded in La Comuna and La Gasca, which ended with 28 people dead and more than 50 injured.
In the session of the Metropolitan Council of Quito, they debated for more than three hours on the effects left by the passage of the alluvium. According to university researchers, the amount of rain and saturation of the soil generated the disaster, although they did make some remarks.
According to him report delivered by the Central University of Ecuador (UCE), about 700 meters above Mariscal Sucre Avenue, was found in the ravine the existence of debris and garbage in the section of the channel. This, due to the interaction of houses that adjoin the El Tejado creek.
Furthermore, the text maintains that there are houses settled on the edge of the ravine, in the Communa Alta sector, with an imminent risk of collapse due to the instability of the land. The experts and the mayors agreed that it should be control and prohibit construction in the vicinity of this stream.
“The steep slopes of the El Tejado creek from upstream they generated high speeds of this mudflow, which together with the volumes of solids from the urban area upstream of av. Mariscal Sucre caused the uptake plugging of the sewage system and the overflow into the La Gasca neighborhood,” says the report.
According Diego Paredes, UCE teacher, the rain generated on January 31 was 75 millimeters per square meter, the comparison was that 50% of the rain for the entire month of January was recorded.
The expert recommended implementing a hydrometeorological monitoring of the basin of this creek and a early warning system to avoid the loss of life that was lamented in the last disaster.
Liliana Troncoso, also from the UCE, argued that the alluvium covered an area of 3.15 kilometers. The teacher pointed out that on the north side of the damage, a increased debris and garbage in the mud flow, this was highlighted by a piece of land that is located under the ecuavóley court, in what was called ground zero and that according to the viewpoints’ complaint was intended as a rubble dump.
On the other hand, he added that the Pambachupa Park it was a dissipator of the force of the alluvium flow. That is why he recommended that you should more green areas, They help contain this type of landslide.
Some of the fatal victims were dragged to this place, one of them was Wilmer Moreira, who did they find under rubble in the Community Police Unit of the sector.
Daniel Andrade, representative of the Geophysical Institute of the National polytechnic school, stated that the photographic material allowed them to calculate that the landslides occurred from 4,000 to 2,800 meters high.
Through the passage of the mud there was a erosion from three to fourteen meters wide, that was obtained in the lower area of La Comuna. In addition, he pointed out that the volume of mud that fell was from 30,000 to 35,000 cubic meters.
According to the UCE report, the volume was 23,010 cubic meters, however, for Troncoso, a new analysis suggests that there were 15,000 cubic meters, this amount would place it as a small flow. “The disaster was greater because of the exhibition that the constructions had in this sector of impact of the flow”, added
The text concludes that impact zone covers an area of approx. 146,229.19 square meters and that the total impact area was 787,053.89 m2.
The mayors, for their part, thanked the presentation of the representatives of the academy. But pretext of a commune law we want to do what we want”, said the deputy mayor brith cow (independent), denouncing that meters from the creek they found signs with offers for sale of land in the sector.
“It is true, what we live in The alluvium of La Gasca has a natural origin, but we have also been told that it has an anthropic component and that it is due to the disorderly growth of the city, that has been brewing for the last 20 years,” he added.
the councilwoman Paulina Izurieta (ID-Vive) said that it should not only be studied from the affectation of nature. “We have to see what the plans are and processes so that this does not happen again, express.
Mayor Santiago Guarderas emphasized that An alarm system is not enough but the training of neighbors so that they know how to act in the face of a disaster of this magnitude. He also identified the need to maintain a committee of experts and scientists for risk reduction. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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