This Monday, Mayor Francisco Azcué led a meeting of the Emergency Operations Committee (COE) where the potential impact of the “El Niño” phenomenon on the city was analyzed, and from there, work on joint strategies.
One of the important points for the community to keep in mind is that, so far, there is no precise data indicating when the phenomenon might occur, only estimates, and that there is permanent monitoring being carried out by official agencies.
Given this, the Municipality reported on the various actions that have been carried out in order to reduce the impact of intense rainfall or potential flooding of the Uruguay River, such as the work executed on drains, culverts, reservoirs, and channels, particularly the Concordia and Manzores streams, which are fundamental to guarantee adequate surface water runoff throughout the city.
This allowed for better water drainage during the last flood and, consequently, a lesser effect on inhabited areas, for which the request to residents was reiterated not to throw waste, branches, construction debris, or any other element that prevents normal runoff.
Regarding the Southern Defense, investments were made in the maintenance and repair of equipment and the execution of operations for the startup of the rainwater pumping system and the assembly of floodgates in different parts of the city.
Another measure was the relocation of 9 families from flood-prone areas to homes that were built in Agua Patito and 15 more homes that are nearing completion.
Mayor Azcué also requested that the Municipality's areas advance in the review and conditioning of the spaces that will be allocated to families in case of evacuations, as well as having health, food, or transport assistance coordinated.
ACTIVE COE
Regarding the meeting, Azcué maintained that the objective was to “share information and begin to prepare ourselves for the possible impact that the phenomenon may have. Faced with this, and without entering a state of alert, to begin working on some operational measures, with an action protocol and to establish that the COE remains active”.
“Since we do not know exactly when this phenomenon will occur and it is not known what magnitude it will have, it forces us to plan, but what I ask of all residents is responsibility and that they handle themselves through official channels, which is where the status of the situation and what the community needs to know will be made known,” pointed out Azcué.
Finally, the mayor announced that if necessary, a broader call will be made for institutions, social organizations, and intermediate entities to participate in a next COE meeting.
The Emergency Operations Committee is composed of the Vice-Mayor's Office; the Secretariats of Cabinet and Treasury Coordination, Government, Public Works, Public Services, Human Development, Health; the areas of Urban Hygiene; Social Development, Electrotechnics, Citizen Security, Traffic, Municipal Decentralization, Entre Costanera, and Communication and Press, in addition to representatives of the Argentine Army; Argentine Naval Prefecture; Volunteer and Sapper Firefighters; Entre Ríos Police; National Gendarmerie; Electric Cooperative; Mixed Technical Commission of Salto Grande and the Argentine Red Cross.
One of the important points for the community to keep in mind is that, so far, there is no precise data indicating when the phenomenon might occur, only estimates, and that there is permanent monitoring being carried out by official agencies.
Given this, the Municipality reported on the various actions that have been carried out in order to reduce the impact of intense rainfall or potential flooding of the Uruguay River, such as the work executed on drains, culverts, reservoirs, and channels, particularly the Concordia and Manzores streams, which are fundamental to guarantee adequate surface water runoff throughout the city.
This allowed for better water drainage during the last flood and, consequently, a lesser effect on inhabited areas, for which the request to residents was reiterated not to throw waste, branches, construction debris, or any other element that prevents normal runoff.
Regarding the Southern Defense, investments were made in the maintenance and repair of equipment and the execution of operations for the startup of the rainwater pumping system and the assembly of floodgates in different parts of the city.
Another measure was the relocation of 9 families from flood-prone areas to homes that were built in Agua Patito and 15 more homes that are nearing completion.
Mayor Azcué also requested that the Municipality's areas advance in the review and conditioning of the spaces that will be allocated to families in case of evacuations, as well as having health, food, or transport assistance coordinated.
ACTIVE COE
Regarding the meeting, Azcué maintained that the objective was to “share information and begin to prepare ourselves for the possible impact that the phenomenon may have. Faced with this, and without entering a state of alert, to begin working on some operational measures, with an action protocol and to establish that the COE remains active”.
“Since we do not know exactly when this phenomenon will occur and it is not known what magnitude it will have, it forces us to plan, but what I ask of all residents is responsibility and that they handle themselves through official channels, which is where the status of the situation and what the community needs to know will be made known,” pointed out Azcué.
Finally, the mayor announced that if necessary, a broader call will be made for institutions, social organizations, and intermediate entities to participate in a next COE meeting.
The Emergency Operations Committee is composed of the Vice-Mayor's Office; the Secretariats of Cabinet and Treasury Coordination, Government, Public Works, Public Services, Human Development, Health; the areas of Urban Hygiene; Social Development, Electrotechnics, Citizen Security, Traffic, Municipal Decentralization, Entre Costanera, and Communication and Press, in addition to representatives of the Argentine Army; Argentine Naval Prefecture; Volunteer and Sapper Firefighters; Entre Ríos Police; National Gendarmerie; Electric Cooperative; Mixed Technical Commission of Salto Grande and the Argentine Red Cross.