Tena River Floods...Again!
(Sept/25/2011)


(Tena, Ecuador)

In Tena, we are supposed to be in "summer," which means a lot less rain. But Saturday evening around 5:30 pm, the downpour began. It rained hard for the rest of the evening and into the night.

We were at a wedding reception near Archidona and could see the level of the Archidona river rising. And when we returned to Tena at about 11 pm the river was passing just beneath the bridge in the center of town (a good 15ft+ above normal).

In April 2010, a similar event happened and many neighborhoods flooded. This time there was flooding in areas of Bella Vista Baja and Palandococha along with several other neighborhoods, but not as wide spread as the year before. Families could be seen the next day with their belongings outside trying to dry things up.

The Red Cross and others were prepared to rescue any swept away by the waters. One call was to a house that was destroyed by flood waters. The house collapsed, killing a small child.

Some are blaming the retaining walls that have been put up along the river just after the last flood. A lot of controversy has arisen, with locals demanding more walls and others claiming the flooding was worsened by the walls that are in place.

A large section of the wall that had been built was washed away in the flooding. Also materials to construct further retaining walls were also washed downriver.

Mudslides also caused damage along the Tena-Puerto Napo road. A section of road was lifted right up from the force of the sliding mud and water.

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