Governor Rogelio Frigerio, together with the mayor of Concordia Francisco Azcué, toured the Costanera and various sectors affected by the rising of the Uruguay River. He also visited the southern defense, where he verified the operation of the recently installed pumps and generator sets, and then led a meeting of the Emergency Committee to evaluate the prevention and assistance actions being carried out by the Province and the municipality.
During the meeting, the authorities analyzed the hydrological projections for the coming weeks, reviewed the resources available to assist the families and sectors affected, and evaluated preparation measures in the face of a possible evolution of the flood, in the context of the El Niño phenomenon.
"We continue working on prevention, we continue working on being better prepared every day for the eventuality of the flood. This is week by week and we have to be prepared," stated Frigerio.
In that sense, the governor maintained that the provincial and municipal government "is more prepared than ever before to face the effects and impacts of the El Niño phenomenon." He also highlighted the coordinated work between both levels of government, the works carried out, the cleaning of the streams, and the preparation of the spaces destined to receive people who may eventually need to be evacuated.
"Never before has there been so much coordination, never before has there been so much work, never before were the streams cleaned as they are now, never before did we prepare the places to eventually receive the evacuees. The level of preparation and the coordinated work that exists between the two levels of government, between the provincial Civil Defense and the municipal Civil Defense, has never been seen before; career employees of many years tell me this," he specified.
Frigerio also brought reassurance to the population and assured that the forecasts are kept under permanent monitoring to anticipate possible scenarios. "Everything we can do to mitigate and cushion the impact of the effects of El Niño is being done and was done at the time, and we follow the different forecasts that reach us daily to be prepared and eventually, if we have to evacuate, to do it in dry conditions," he indicated.
Regarding immediate forecasts, he explained that the evaluation is carried out week by week and pointed out that a slight drop in the river was expected for the coming days. Likewise, he clarified that the rains recorded in the north occurred in a different basin, so they would not directly impact Concordia and other towns on the Uruguay coast. "For this week we can have some peace of mind and we are going to monitor it every day, every hour, to be able to anticipate and, eventually, if evacuations have to be made, to do them in dry conditions," he added.
For his part, Mayor Azcué highlighted the results of the interventions carried out with machinery in the Manzores stream and pointed out that the tasks contributed to reducing the number of evacuated people compared to previous flood episodes.
"In previous years, with the river at 11.90 meters, according to records we had 70 people evacuated, and today, when it reached that height, we had 20 evacuees. That speaks of a positive impact of what was done and indicates that we must continue working in this way, doing what had not been done for many years," he maintained.
The mayor also remarked on the importance of the articulation with the provincial Government to carry out the interventions. "Thanks to the governor's efforts, the machines arrived in the city, this task could be done and it had a positive impact and we must continue on that path," he affirmed.
Regarding the tour of the southern defense, Azcué highlighted the incorporation of generator sets to guarantee the operation of the pumping system in the event of power outages. "We have generators because, incredibly, in this city we had the defense and there were no generators, so the power would go out and we were in serious trouble," he expressed.
Likewise, he detailed that the municipality has been working for several months on the cleaning of the Concordia stream, the interventions in the Manzores, the wetlands, the reservoirs, and the drainage system. "Now that we are in the active phase of the El Niño phenomenon, where abundant rainfall falls in a short time, and the river rises, we see the positive results of all those tasks that we did and that we will continue to do," he concluded.
During the meeting, the authorities analyzed the hydrological projections for the coming weeks, reviewed the resources available to assist the families and sectors affected, and evaluated preparation measures in the face of a possible evolution of the flood, in the context of the El Niño phenomenon.
"We continue working on prevention, we continue working on being better prepared every day for the eventuality of the flood. This is week by week and we have to be prepared," stated Frigerio.
In that sense, the governor maintained that the provincial and municipal government "is more prepared than ever before to face the effects and impacts of the El Niño phenomenon." He also highlighted the coordinated work between both levels of government, the works carried out, the cleaning of the streams, and the preparation of the spaces destined to receive people who may eventually need to be evacuated.
"Never before has there been so much coordination, never before has there been so much work, never before were the streams cleaned as they are now, never before did we prepare the places to eventually receive the evacuees. The level of preparation and the coordinated work that exists between the two levels of government, between the provincial Civil Defense and the municipal Civil Defense, has never been seen before; career employees of many years tell me this," he specified.
Frigerio also brought reassurance to the population and assured that the forecasts are kept under permanent monitoring to anticipate possible scenarios. "Everything we can do to mitigate and cushion the impact of the effects of El Niño is being done and was done at the time, and we follow the different forecasts that reach us daily to be prepared and eventually, if we have to evacuate, to do it in dry conditions," he indicated.
Regarding immediate forecasts, he explained that the evaluation is carried out week by week and pointed out that a slight drop in the river was expected for the coming days. Likewise, he clarified that the rains recorded in the north occurred in a different basin, so they would not directly impact Concordia and other towns on the Uruguay coast. "For this week we can have some peace of mind and we are going to monitor it every day, every hour, to be able to anticipate and, eventually, if evacuations have to be made, to do them in dry conditions," he added.
For his part, Mayor Azcué highlighted the results of the interventions carried out with machinery in the Manzores stream and pointed out that the tasks contributed to reducing the number of evacuated people compared to previous flood episodes.
"In previous years, with the river at 11.90 meters, according to records we had 70 people evacuated, and today, when it reached that height, we had 20 evacuees. That speaks of a positive impact of what was done and indicates that we must continue working in this way, doing what had not been done for many years," he maintained.
The mayor also remarked on the importance of the articulation with the provincial Government to carry out the interventions. "Thanks to the governor's efforts, the machines arrived in the city, this task could be done and it had a positive impact and we must continue on that path," he affirmed.
Regarding the tour of the southern defense, Azcué highlighted the incorporation of generator sets to guarantee the operation of the pumping system in the event of power outages. "We have generators because, incredibly, in this city we had the defense and there were no generators, so the power would go out and we were in serious trouble," he expressed.
Likewise, he detailed that the municipality has been working for several months on the cleaning of the Concordia stream, the interventions in the Manzores, the wetlands, the reservoirs, and the drainage system. "Now that we are in the active phase of the El Niño phenomenon, where abundant rainfall falls in a short time, and the river rises, we see the positive results of all those tasks that we did and that we will continue to do," he concluded.