The Miami Herald
Tue, Oct. 11, 2005

Amazon drought declared a disaster

BY PAULO WINTERSTEIN
Associated Press

SAO PAULO - Four Brazilian cities in the Amazon jungle state of Amazonas have been declared disaster areas as the worst drought in 60 years dries up rivers that thousands of families depend on to receive food and medicine, authorities said Monday.

By declaring Manaquiri, Atalaia do Norte, Anori and Caapiranga disaster areas, the state government will be able to receive federal aid.

Officials are mainly concerned with the dwindling supplies of medicine in these cities, where more than 42,000 people live, Roberto Rocha of the Amazonas state Civil Defense Department said by phone.

In Manaquiri, the hardest hit of the four cities, small rivers have all but disappeared, cutting off some 2,000 families from regular supplies of medicine and food, Rocha said.

With the rivers drying up, drinking water has also become scarce, said fire department official Col. Mario Belota, a coordinator of the state's relief efforts.

He said workers have been sent to dig wells in Manaquiri, about 1,645 miles northwest of Sao Paulo.

''The little water that exists in the rivers is polluted,'' he added.

Belota also fears a yellow fever epidemic in the region because vaccines are not reaching the region on a regular basis. Another 17 cities and towns declared a state of alert and the federal government may be asked to provide help, furnishing boats and helicopters, Belota said.