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The severe drought in the Brazilian Amazon affects 633,000 people and 62 cities

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Manaquiri (Brazil), Oct 21 (EFE).- The severe drought facing the Brazilian Amazon, with a decrease in the flow of the Amazon River and its tributaries to historic lows, is already affecting 633,000 people and 62 cities, as reported this Saturday by the local authorities.

The daily bulletin of the Civil Defense of the state of Amazonas (north) indicated that the drought keeps 59 cities in an emergency situation, one on alert and two others in the process of normalization, with 151,000 families affected (633,000 people).

Despite the reduction in fire outbreaks, drought and deforestation continue to cause them, such as the large one that the EFE Agency team encountered in the municipality of Careiro and which forced the displacement of firefighters to contain it.

In the midst of one of the worst droughts in memory in the region, the Negro River, the tributary of the Amazon that bathes Manaus – the regional capital – and its port, recorded this week its lowest level since monitoring began in 1902: 13 ,5 meters.

From the center of the city to the port, only a small stream remains of what was once the river. and the floating structure is stranded, as EFE confirmed in the municipality of Manaquiri, in the metropolitan region of Manaus.

In the community of Barro Alto and in the area known as Poção, the smell of rotting fish is almost unbearable with thousands of dead fish mixed with the mud and devoured by vultures.

With the blocks of mud that form, the boatmen have to be skillful to avoid getting stuck in the mud.

Residents say many more fish have died, but since it has rained in recent days the dead animals have disappeared.

Fisherman Reginaldo da Silva Gonçalves, 42 years old and resident of the Ajará community, in Manaquiri, told EFE that “he had never seen a drought like this” and recalled that of 2010, to date the most severe in the region.

“This year has been more difficult. More fish died and we had nothing to sell. Buyers no longer come and we can’t even get a passenger to take. It is difficult to pass. The federal government has said that it will advance two sections,” lamented the fisherman.

In the community of Bom Intento, the only access is a small stream that remains of the river, but even a small canoe cannot maneuver alone and some people then cross the river walking on the cracked ground for kilometers with supplies to their homes.



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