Intense rains, flooding, heat across Ecuador, Rainy Season Here

Heavy rainfall that has caused floods in the Amazon , sporadic rains in the mountains or very hot days on the coast. Those are the characteristics of the rainy season, which has just begun in the country. This weekend, the populations of Francisco de Orellana (province of Orellana) and Napo were flooded. The military, according to the website of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, evacuated the inhabitants of the neighborhood December 6 in Coca, after the flooding of the Payamino River, after heavy rains. Other affected provinces are Pastaza and Zamora Chinchipe. In the four zones, the rains of few hours flooded houses, fell bridges and overflowed the rivers. Wladimir Arreaga, a technician at the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (Inamhi), explained that “it is expected that for the next three days, the intensity (of downpours) will decrease.”

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According to the Inamhi, the amount of precipitation expected for this month has already surpassed in Pastaza . According to Arreaga, in six days there were 167.8 millimeters of rainfall in the Shell and Puyo sectors; That is, exceeded the 161 mm predicted for this month. Until last Friday, 185 homes and 156 families were affected, while 12 people were evacuated by the flood of the rivers Pindo Grande and Puyo. In Napo the flow of the tributaries Misahuallí, Anzu and Napo increased. This strong intensity is one of the irregularities that presents this season, due to the effects of climate change, indicates the Inamhi. According to that entity , the rainy season in the Andean region began last October and would last until April, the month in which the most intense rainfall has historically been recorded. The lag of this rainy season has been felt more intensely since the beginning of this month. In Azuay , for example, in the last two weeks the rains have been sporadic. On Friday, the most intense downpour that increased the flows of the four rivers that flow through the city fell, but there were no floods. In Ambato, Riobamba and Latacunga rains are sporadic in the afternoon and evening. On the coast, the season began in December, although with certain variations , which have been experienced in recent years. “It no longer rains normally, but intensely one day and stops raining others, as happened in Guayaquil (the year before). This is causing us havoc in the country, “said Gonzalo Ontaneda, Inamhi Research and Research coordinator. These accumulated rainfall and gaps in the usual start of the rainy season, he added, are signs of global climate change. According to a forecast of temperatures and rainfall that this entity elaborates based on historical records, for the first quarter of this year, we would have rains in almost all the country, with greater intensity in the north of Esmeraldas, Pastaza, the south of Loja, Santo Domingo, Bolivar and Los Ríos. These changes of the rainy season are evident in the Litoral from the beginning of this month. This season will fluctuate between intense episodes of intense heat and sudden rains that could last only hours, according to regional coordinator of the Inamhi, Raúl Mejía, who also rules out the El Niño and La Niña phenomena for this year, according to reports . On the contrary and as usually happens in this time on the Coast, the rains will originate from the incidence of the Amazon basin and clouds from the Peruvian jungle and north of Esmeraldas. But high temperatures will not dissipate. In this region, climate change has influenced, especially in temperature. This happened last Tuesday in Guayaquil, where the thermometers marked 36 ° C and in the neighboring canton Durán 37 ° C (in January the maximum temperature is 32 ° c). In addition to the warming , Mejía explained that in cities like Guayaquil the phenomenon called heat island occurs, which is a fusion between cement constructions that corner cities with sparse vegetation. Read Article