Lima, Mar 20 (EFE).- The intense rains in recent days have increased the water flow in the Amazon River, which passes through Peru’s northern jungle, to a critical level which will probably cause flooding in the city of Iquitos and several districts in Maynas province, according to Peru’s Senamhi national weather service.
Given the weather conditions, the Amazon registered a water level of 117 meters (384 feet) above sea level at the H-Enapu Peru monitoring station, 1.02 meters above its normal level and edging into the “Red Alert” zone.
The Senamhi report added that the trend for the coming few days will be for the river to keep rising and warned about possible flooding in the districts of Punchana, Belen, Iquitos and San Juan Bautista in Maynas province, in the Loreto region.
Also, the weather service on Monday reported a maximum flow rate of 703.9 cubic meters (about 24,840 cubic feet) per second in the Tumbes River at the El Tigre station and said that this flow rate would be experienced at the Puente Tumbes station in the northern city of Tumbes in the coming hours.
On the other hand, another Senamhi report confirmed that there is a very high probability of intense rains and thunderstorms in the coming days in the northern regions of Cajamarca, Tumbes, Piura, Lambayeque and La Libertad, and rains of lesser intensity in the Amazonas and Ancash regions.
The downpours in Peru in recent weeks have brought flooding to several regions resulting in 75 deaths, about 20 people missing and more than 100,000 with property damage.