Acre river floods in Brazil, Bolivia and Peru - February 2024
by Richard Davies, floodlist
Flooding along the Acre River in South America caused widespread damages and displacement in riverside communities in Peru, Brazil and Bolivia in February 2024.
Image 1: Floods in Cobija, Bolivia, February 2024. Credit: Gobierno Autónomo Municipal de Cobija
The Instituto Nacional de Defensa Civil (INDECI) in Peru reported flooding in Madre de Dios Department from 21 February 2024 after the overflow of several rivers, in particular the Acre in the district of Iñapari in the province of Tahuamanu.
Image 2: Floods in Cobija, Bolivia, February 2024. Credit: Gobierno Autónomo Municipal de Cobija
On 22 February, the state government of Acre in Brazil reported evacuations after flooding in the municipality of Assis, where levels of the Acre River had increased by 6 to 7 metres in the space of a few days. The Acre River forms the border between the town of Assis Brasil in Brazil and Iñapari on the opposite side in Peru.
The next day flooding along the Acre impacted communities in the Pando Department of Bolivia, particular Cobija which lies on the banks of the Rio Acre across from the city of Brasiléia, Acre State, Brazil.
Flooding continued in all three countries in the following days and weeks. By late February, the government of Madre de Dios department in Peru reported 560 homes damaged and 2,800 people displaced in Iñapari.
On 27 February, local authorities in Pando Department of Bolivia reported more than 500 homes damaged or destroyed in neighbourhoods of Cobija and Bolpebra. At Cobija, levels of the Acre reached 15.83 metres, exceeding the flood of 2015, the city government said.
Wider areas of Acre State of Brazil were also impacted during late February, prompting the state government to declare a state of emergency in 17 of the state's 20 municipalities, (Assis Brasil, Brasileia, Capixaba, Cruzeiro do Sul, Epitaciolândia, Feijó, Jordão Mâncio Lima, Marechal Thaumaturgo, Plácido de Castro, Porto Walter, Rio Branco, Santa Rosa do Purus, Sena Madureira, Tarauacá, and Xapuri) on 26 February.
Image 3: Floods in Rio Branco, Acre State, Brazil, in early March 2024. Credit: Pedro Devani/Secom
On 02 March, Brazil’s National Civil Defence reported 2 fatalities, over 85,000 affected and over 24,000 displaced as a result of flooding in Acre Sate.
Further heavy rain in early March caused river levels to rise further, reaching 17.68 metres at Rio Branco on 03 March, and 17.89 metres on 05 March. This is the second highest level since records began in 1971. The highest recorded was 18.40 metres in 2015.
By Karen O'Regan March 11, 2024, 2:19 p.m.