Bachelet orders emergency measures in Araucania

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SANTIAGO.- Upon return from her visit to the Araucanía Region, President Michelle Bachelet emphasized today that the flooding in this zone represents "an emergency of tremendous dimensions".

According to the Head of State, the damages brought about by the severe storm front in this southern region, covering close to 200 thousand hectares, can only be calculated one the water level has gone down.

Given the magnitude of the emergency, Bachelet ordered the Minister of Agriculture, Marigen Hornkohl, and the sub-secretaries of Housing and the Treasury to travel to Araucanía to initiate on-the-ground measures to attend to the 91 thousand people affected by the storm, 23,214 of whom are currently homeless.

These emergency measures were made possible after the President signed decrees yesterday declaring a state of catastrophe and agricultural emergency in Araucanía. The precipitation registered over just the last seven days in the region is equivalent to what usually falls in a period of six months. 

"As the government, It is our responsibility to go to and support those who are most in need and that is exactly what we are doing" stated the President.