Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: People's Brigades Against Rain Disasters

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CARACAS, Mar 18 2006 (IPS) - The Venezuelan capital will have civilian protection brigades, made up of citizen groups, to prevent disasters resulting from heavy rains, such as mudslides and flooding, announced the municipality of Libertador, which covers two-thirds (west and central) of Caracas. The rainy season in central Venezuela is from May to October, although in the past decade there were heavy rains outside of that period.

“We want to give the communities basic training in natural disasters in order to attend to emergencies jointly with the officials,” Carmen Zerpa, of the city's Safety Commission, told Tierramérica.

The rains increase the risk of mudslides and building collapse, and Mayor Freddy Bernal noted that 70 percent of the construction in the area he governs, hundreds of impoverished neighborhoods, is built on precarious terrain.