The Daily Journal. — Heavy rains associated with the passage of Tropical Wave No. 40 left at least one person dead, five missing, and more than 150 homes affected over the weekend, along with flooding, overflowing rivers and streams, stranded vehicles and road damage, according to reports from authorities and emergency agencies.
Authorities identified the victim as Keylin Quintero, a woman whom floodwaters swept into a drainage system near the Monumental Stadium in Caracas. Search teams found her body on Sunday in Santa Lucía, Miranda state.
Quintero was traveling on a motorcycle with her young son and another person when the vehicle skidded due to water accumulation on the road. The driver escaped unharmed, while the current swept the woman and the child into a storm drain. Rescue agencies continue searching for the boy.
A report released by authorities on Sunday and carried by national media counted five missing people across Caracas, Miranda and Aragua.
In Guaicaipuro municipality, Miranda state, search teams continue efforts to locate Richard Borges and María Alejandra Mijares, a couple who disappeared after the rising waters of the El Alambique stream swept away the vehicle in which they were traveling with their 13-year-old daughter.
The teenager managed to escape the current, and emergency teams took her to Victorino Santaella Hospital in Los Teques.
Guaicaipuro Mayor Farith Fraija reported that the rains affected 156 homes in the municipality, damaging walls and masonry and causing two buildings to collapse in the El Prado sector. Another community also reported losses of household belongings.
In Aragua state, rescue teams continue searching for Jesús Eduardo Barbera Pinto, 55, and Zuleika Morillo, 52, a couple who worked as merchants and whom the rising Aragua River swept away on Saturday night in José Félix Ribas municipality.
Early Sunday morning, rescue teams found the couple’s vehicle in the La Gavilana sector with severe damage after a tree trunk struck it, but they did not find its occupants.
Damage in Caracas and other states
In Caracas, the Guaire River overflowed on Saturday night, leaving between 60 and 70 vehicles stranded on the Valle-Coche highway and about 20 people injured, according to Capital District Head of Government Nahum Fernández.
Emergency teams also rescued people trapped inside vehicles and homes in areas including El Valle, Coche, Altamira, Antímano and La Vega.
The rainfall also caused damage outside the capital region. In Anzoátegui, overflowing rivers and streams caused flooding and affected families and homes in several communities. In Naricual, the Las Minas River overflowed and affected 12 families, while authorities reported homes in vulnerable areas in Valle de Guanape.
In Carabobo, the rains caused flooding, downed trees and damage across several areas, while Civil Protection and Fire Department teams carried out response and assessment operations.
In Táchira, the rains affected at least six municipalities: Junín, San Cristóbal, Cárdenas, Francisco de Miranda, Sucre and García de Hevia. In Junín, flooding covered sections of the San Cristóbal-Rubio highway, while in San Cristóbal, rising waters in the Torbes River caused the roadway to collapse in the Sabaneta sector along the old highway to the Llanos, interrupting both vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
The National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (Inameh) warned that new tropical waves will reach Venezuelan territory, prompting authorities to continue monitoring rivers, streams, and vulnerable areas.
