Days after twin earthquakes devastated large parts of Venezuela, severe flooding has struck the municipality of Monseñor José Vicente de Unda in Portuguesa state. Hours of intense rainfall caused rivers and streams to overflow, inundating homes, businesses and public infrastructure. The number of affected residents remains unclear.
The flooding comes as Venezuela continues rescue and recovery operations following the powerful earthquakes that struck on June 24. Emergency responders remain deployed across the country, where thousands of people are still missing, and many families remain displaced.
Disaster response expands in the country post aftershocks
As fresh tremors shook nerves on Sunday, worries grew that the window for locating survivors was dwindling. Emergency responders battled to navigate chaotic highways congested by desperate civilian rescue operations in northern Venezuela, devastated by the earthquake.
Delcy Rodriguez, the acting president of Venezuela, made broadcast comments on Sunday afternoon. She said that search-and-rescue operations were ongoing and would continue. “We recovered people alive today. Therefore, the rescue operations will not be suspended.”
Rodríguez also declared that schools nationwide would remain closed for an additional week. She said that 75% of La Guaira, the most devastated state, now had electricity, 68% had a water supply, and 90% had road connectivity.
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Death toll rises
Jorge Rodríguez, the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, reported on Sunday that 1,450 people had died as a result of the earthquakes, 3,150 had been injured, and 12,721 had been evacuated.
He said that 774 buildings have been damaged or destroyed, with 585 suffering damage or partial collapse and 189 fully collapsing. He declared, “We are in critical hours, crucial hours.”
The New York Times reported that La Guaira processes over 750 bodies every day, and roughly 50 forensic experts travel daily from Caracas to assist with the operation.
There were 150 unclaimed dead at the Caracas morgue, 130 of which were still unidentified, the New York Times reported.
According to the two doctors at the Caracas mortuary, the facility has been providing free cremations to impacted families, and if the death toll keeps rising, officials have not ruled out the usage of mass graves.
