Brussels, 11/03/2008 (Agence Europe) - Through the Community Civil Protection Mechanism, the European Commission has sent a team of experts from five member states to help Ecuador which has been devastated by consecutive floods following very heavy rain.
Responding to the requests from Ecuadorean authorities to the Commission delegation in Quito, the Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC), located in the Commission's Directorate General Environment, coordinated the resources made available by member states in relation to needs. Since 9 March, a team of five experts from France, Germany, Austria, Sweden and Spain and a MIC expert coordinator have been working. The team has set up its headquarters in Guayaquil. It will work closely with ECHO, the Commission's humanitarian aid office, and the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team. It will help bring aid, manage logistics, assess the damage and provide technical expertise for updating emergency plans.
“The emergency in Ecuador is far from over," said Stavros Dimas, Commissioner for the Environment and Civil Protection. “The European Commission has been monitoring the situation on the ground through the MIC, and was therefore ready to react when the request for assistance arrived. Our expertise has been highly valued in similar emergencies in recent years, and as ever we will do all we can to assist the people of Ecuador.”
The very heavy rains falling on Ecuador - the heaviest in 25 years - are a result of El Nino. They have caused flooding in 13 of Ecuador's 24 provinces, and are likely to last until April. Hitherto, the flooding has claimed 19 lives and affected between 250,000 and 300,000 people. 100,000 of these need emergency aid, and over 13,000 people are being lodged in temporary accommodation, says the Commission. (A.N.)