Panama’s Western Provinces Devastated By Flooding
Flood Damage In Panama’s Chiriqui Province
The entire country of Panama has seen an incredible amount of rain over the past week, but the worst hit are the provinces of Bocas del Toro and Chiriqui. The are varying reports of deaths and injuries as a result of the heavy rains.
Some news stations are reporting as many as 8 dead, 7,700 people homeless and 30-thousand effected. Panama’s La Critica newspaper is reporting 3 dead in Bocas del Toro and 5 victims in Chiriqui. Those who have been evacuated from their homes are being housed in 20 temporary shelters in the two provinces.
Heavy rains have been pounding the country for days, but in Bocas and Chiriqui bridges and roads have been washed out, houses have been flooded and there is no cellular phone service in the area. Currently it is impossible to reach Bocas del Toro by land, sea or air.
There is a collection station in Parque Omar in Panama City that is accepting donations of food, clothing and water which will be taken to the worst hit areas of Panama. Cleaning supplies and baby formula is also needed by those effected.
The heavy rains have been caused by a cold front and a low pressure system. The rain is expected to last for a couple more days at least. The effects of the flooding will most likely be seen for quite a while since many crops and plantations were destroyed in an area that is home to most of Panama’s agricultural activities.
| Written by Rebecca Tyre |  |
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Filed under: Country Guide, News on November 25th, 2008
In the area of Volcan, Paso Ancho and Cerro Punta 4 people died and 7 people are still missing. Various search teams have gone out to look for them.
192 people lost their homes and all their belongings. They are being taken for by the volunteers of the “Cruz Roja Panameña”.
The areas of Boquete and Bocas del Toro were even worse affected.
Please visit : http://www.beautifuljourney.nl/images/human-cost-highland-floods-panama.html
And spread the news.
Hola from Isla Colon, Bocas del Toro. My name is Don King and I run a non-profit org (SBT) here which disseminates information. I am putting out a daily local Info sheet for the islands in this crisis.
As of today November 27th, Bocas has air services, but we are otherwise cut-off. The coastal highway to Chiriqui Grande and Almirante from David is closed by kilometers of mudslides. The border to Costa Rica is Closed at Sixaola, due to rising flood waters (reported at 9 feet some areas). Almirante and Changuinola are out of fuel and are having periodic outages of electricity and water. The Colombian Air Force landed a transport plane with supplies for the relief effort at Bocas this morning. The supplies are to be air lifted to Almirante and Changuinola. Bocas Town (Isla Colon) is out of gasoline and diesel for private vehicles and boats. We currently have ample food supplies here, but outlying Indigenous communites have not been able to reach here until yesterday. We sent a boat out to San Cristobal community yesterday to check on their situation. They are in need of food, dry clothes, canned goods, etc. I have photos of the village and some food and supplies being distributed from this boat. There is a relief group working here locally to gather supplies for these trips.
You can check on my daily report at my web site Blog. References for me: Gabriel Cespedes of the Smithsonian Institute 6616-9397. Articles in the local news http://www.thebocasbreeze.com
Thanks,
Don
We’d like to clear up recent news stories, headlines, and rumors which indicate that the entire province of Bocas del Toro is in utter chaos. Sensationalized tales of heavy rains, flooding, lack of food, etc have been spread across the news. We would like to clarify that although many regions have been severely affected by recent storms, Isla Colon and the entire archipelago of Bocas del Toro are in good condition and anxiously awaiting tourists. The other areas, such as Changuinola, Costa Rica, and other parts of mainland Panama, are being quickly repaired as well. Buses, food delivery trucks, and other transport vehicles are now able to travel between Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro. The border at Sixaola is now open and Costa Rica is working rapidly to repair their roads as well.
Here on Isla Colon, the past four days have been full of sunshine. Restaurants, hotels, airlines, shops, roads, and tour boats are all fully functioning. The only thing missing is tourism. Our only concern now is the bad publicity that the island is getting under false pretenses. We therefore invite any and all to come enjoy our island paradise. Here you will find everything in order, beautiful sun and beaches, and that special local flavor…the best the Caribbean has to offer.
We encourage travel agencies, airlines, and past and future clients to help us to spread that word that Bocas is as good as ever. Bienvenidos!
Has anyone heard anything about the small town of Hornito, in particular Valle de la Mina? I haven’t been able to reach friends there at all nor have I seen any reports about it.