Arghh! This stuff tastes terrible. I just washed my mouth out with soap for thinking that maybe 'Princess' Ortega did us a favour by delaying construction of a mine at Las Cristinas. Floods are supposed to continue.

Mayoress calls on State Governor for aid ... Las Cristinas neighborhood hit by violent cloud bursts, floods

VHeadline Venezuela News reports: Mayoress Marlene Vargas de Rivas has called on the State Governor Francisco Rangel Gomez to send immediate reinforcements and aid to Tumeremo in the south of Venezuela's Bolivar State after incessant tropical downpours over the last 48 hours have left the area around the giant Las Cristinas goldmine flooded.

The El Pariche, El Esfuerzo, Vista al Sol, Junin and other neighborhoods are reportedly worst affected with houses washed away and roads cut. The cloudbursts continue unabated.

The township of Santa Maria is reportedly cut-off and local schoolchildren have been forced to stay home as the floods encroached on the vilalge of Roscio where most houses were said to be under water. The worst affected area appears to be to the north of Tumeremo where a section of the highway was washed away with only a gap remaining.

Mayoress Vargas de Rivas declared a local emergency as mechanical equipment from the Municipal Depot was drafted in to deal with transit problema dn attempt to provide drainage. An assessment of the flood damage is being made today with all utility personnel mobilized for the emergency. She said "I have communicated with the governor, Francisco Rangel Gomez and he told me that we could count on his support. The rains have been very strong and are continuing."

The regional town of Tumeremo was founded more than 200 years ago by the Catalan Capuchin missionaries on a hill surrounded by lagoons where the locals draw water for human consumption. The rest of the area is composed of marshlands which, during the rainy season, take all the flow and often rise to overflowing ... just lioke now! This year the water levels appear to be higher, with the heavy rains that have already fallen and more to come, according to meterologists.

VHeadline Venezuela News