While Chile has drawn international aid and attention following the devastating earthquake there, heavy rainfall in neighbouring Peru could be creating a second humanitarian crisis in a matter of weeks.

Plan has programme units in the province of Cusco, where 24 hours of continuous rain fell on 28 February. This came just weeks after initial flooding forced villagers out of their homes and into camps.

During that first series of rains and floods in the area, Plan distributed emergency kits in Huacarpay and Zurite, as well as installing water tanks at the shelter sites to provide clean drinking water.

Plan also set up centres for psychosocial support, called Kusi Wasis (or Houses of Happiness in the indigenous Quechua language) that provided assistance to the Peruvian government’s medical and psychological teams.

Currently, between 40 and 80 children attend psychosocial support sessions at the centres every day in the Huacarpay and Zurite emergency shelter zones.

Rivers that overflowed during the first emergency have now burst their banks again, leading to flooded homes, collapsed highways and lost lives.

Plan Peru continues to coordinate with local authorities in wake of this new disaster; providing fuel for the machinery used to clear landslides and handing out clothing kits with boots, blankets, and other warm clothing.

The Fireman’s Association of Cusco and the Green Squadron Police have reported 7 official deaths and at least 30 missing people in this latest disaster, with children reported to be among them. Hundreds of homes have also been destroyed.

While Plan helps Peru to recover from this second disaster in such a short space of time, there are fears that the full effects of the catastrophe have not yet been felt. Drinking water systems and hundreds of hectares of grain were wiped out in the floods, arousing fears that the country may face a food security crisis later this year.

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