Over 90 homes demolished after city floods

OVER 90 homes  affected by floods and landslides will be demolished in of Samaria, San Miguelito.

Experts of the Panamanian Society of Engineers and Architects and city planners have agreed that the area should be declared uninhabitable because of risks to inhabitants who were affected by heavy rains last week.

At a meeting between those  affected and Housing and Land Management Minister, Mario Etchelecu, several alternatives were evaluated

The Minisrer said that the state will assume the cost of re-housing, Which could be in the range of $50,000.

The department of social development will look for options with development companies building social housing projects.
On Monday moving trucks authorized by the Joint Task Force were removing  salvaged  furniture from homes which were gradually sinking and collapsing. Officials from the National Civil Protection System (Sinaproc), Police, the Fire Department, and Ministry of Housing (Miviot) were on hand.to assist 455 victims, many of whom have lost everything.

José Alfredo Camaño,  a schoolteacher is one of them. His home broke in half and sank into the muddy ground during heavy rains that lashed the area for three hours lastThursday afternoon.

De Camaño cannot get clothes, furniture, stove and refrigerator because the ground is unstable and it is not safe to enter his  home.
in which he  had recently  installed a new roof, floor tiles, and  ceiling.

By Monday  some 38 houses  had been  evacuated with the help of agents of the National Police and Sinaproc
Gabriel Villarreal, was driving his driving taxi at the time of the disaster.

“My house was pushed by my neighbor’s house, which collapsed and began to move. Mine was  built, with the best foundations and  concrete columns”.

Caesar Lange, head of  Sinaproc Search and Rescue said that  in the homes on high ground there is  a lot of instability and  rainfall or earth tremors can create  a fault in the constuction.. Sinaproc, is now checking more houses that may need to be demolished.

Across  the country Sinaproc has listed 183 areas
prone to flooding and landslides.

They  are located in the provinces of Panama (56), Chiriqui (51) and Bocas del Toro (20). Los  Santos (17) and Colon (16).

The president of the Panamanian Society of Engineers and Architects (SPIA) José Batista said authorities should make studies on the vulnerability of the site and the shortcomings of structures.

Urban planner  Rodrigo Mejía- Andrión called San Miguelito a “time bomb” for future disasters, if the right decisions are not taken
“We should not wait for another disaster of this magnitude to revisit the issue of planning areas.”