Current:Home > StocksIn the Amazon, communities next to the world’s most voluminous river are queuing for water -Global Capital Summit
In the Amazon, communities next to the world’s most voluminous river are queuing for water
View
Date:2025-04-13 19:03:59
CAREIRO DA VARZEA, Brazil (AP) — As the Amazon drought rages on, public authorities in Brazil are scrambling to deliver food and water to thousands of isolated communities throughout a vast and roadless territory, where boats are the only means of transportation.
Across Amazonas state, which has a territory the size of three Californias, 59 out of its 62 municipalities are under state of emergency, impacting 633,000 people. In the capital Manaus, Negro River — a major tributary of the Amazon — has reached its lowest level since official measurements began 121 years ago.
One of the most impacted cities is Careiro da Varzea, near Manaus by the Amazon River. On Tuesday, the municipality distributed emergency kits using an improvised barge originally designed to transport cattle.
Packages with food for riverside communities due to the ongoing drought sit on a dock, in Careiro da Varzea, Amazonas state, Brazil, Oct. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File)
A resident of a riverside community carries a container of drinking water from an aid distribution due to the ongoing drought in Careiro da Varzea, Amazonas state, Brazil, Oct. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File)
The Associated Press accompanied the delivery to two communities. It docked miles away from them, requiring residents, most of them small farmers and fishermen, to walk long distances through former riverbeds turned into endless sand banks and mud.
Each family received a basic food package and 20 liters (5.3 gallons) of water, enough for just a few days but a heavy burden to carry under the scorching heat.
“I will have to carry the food package on my back for half an hour,” Moisés Batista de Souza, a small farmer from Sao Lazaro community, told the AP. He said the biggest problem is getting drinkable water. To reach the closest source demands a long walk from his house.
“Everybody in Careiro da Varzea has been affected by the drought,” said Jean Costa de Souza, chief of Civil Defense of Careiro da Varzea, a municipality of 19,600 people, most living in rural areas. “Unfortunately, people don’t have water. Some lost their crops, while others couldn’t transport their output.”
Residents of a riverside community carry food and containers of drinking water after receiving aid due to the ongoing drought in Careiro da Varzea, Amazonas state, Brazil, Oct. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File)
Costa de Souza said the municipality will finish next week the first round of deliveries to all rural communities. Other two rounds are under planning, pending on receiving aid from state and federal governments.
Dry spells are part of the Amazon’s cyclical weather pattern, with lighter rainfall from May to October for most of the rainforest. The season is being further stretched this year by two climate phenomena: the warming of northern tropical Atlantic Ocean waters and El Niño — the warming of surface waters in the Equatorial Pacific region — which will peak between December and January.
___
AP reporter Fabiano Maisonnave contributed from Brasilia.
___
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
veryGood! (79541)
Related
- This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
- Inside a Michigan military school where families leave teenagers out of love, desperation
- Legionnaires’ disease source may be contaminated water droplets near a resort, NH officials say
- Utility worker electrocuted after touching live wire working on power pole in Mississippi
- Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
- After fire struck Maui’s Upcountry, residents of one town looked to themselves to prep for next one
- Sifan Hassan's Olympic feat arguably greatest in history of Summer Games
- 2024 Olympics: Australian Breakdancer Raygun Reacts to Criticism After Controversial Debut
- Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
- A'ja Wilson dragged US women's basketball to Olympic gold in an ugly win over France
Ranking
- Alex Murdaugh’s murder appeal cites biased clerk and prejudicial evidence
- Who won at the box office this weekend? The Reynolds-Lively household
- After another gold medal, is US women's basketball best Olympic dynasty of all time?
- Billie Eilish Welcomes the Olympics to Los Angeles With Show-Stopping Beachfront Performance
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- This is absolutely the biggest Social Security check any senior will get this year
- RHONJ’s Rachel Fuda Is Pregnant, Expecting Another Baby With Husband John Fuda
- Road rage fight in Los Angeles area leaves 1 man dead; witness says he was 'cold-cocked'
Recommendation
$73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
UNC women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance, who won 21 NCAA titles, retires
Photos show Debby's path of destruction from Florida to Vermont
Uncomfortable Conversations: How do you get your grown child to move out?
Trump issues order to ban transgender troops from serving openly in the military
Brittney Griner’s tears during national anthem show how much this Olympic gold medal means
Can I use my 401(k) as an ATM? New rules allow emergency withdrawals.
The Daily Money: Which airports have most delays?