People still evacuated and affected due to storms in Uruguay

Montevideo, Mar 22 (Prensa Latina) Nearly 5,000 people remain displaced from their homes and many more are still without electricity after days of heavy rains and floods.

March 22, 2024
13:55

According to the National Emergency System (Sinae) 4,722 people are out of their homes.

Of that total, 1,995 are from Florida, 1,298 from San José, 760 from Colonia and 606 from Canelones, while the rest are distributed to a lesser extent in the departments of Rocha, Rivera, Paysandú, Durazno and Cerro Largo.

The maximum rainfall volumes in the last 24 hours were recorded in the city of Rio Branco, in Cerro Largo, with 154 millimeters; in José Pedro Varela, in Lavalleja, with 140 millimeters, and in Nueva Helvecia, Colonia, with 138 millimeters.

In the departments of Rivera and Artigas (north), winds gusted over 100 kilometers per hour.

The storms affected power supply to 116,000 users of the Administración Nacional de Usinas y Transmisiones Eléctricas (UTE), whose brigades reestablished 60 percent of the interruptions.

However, nearly 43,000 customers are still off.

At the same time, the Highway Police reported 29 road closures nationwide.

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