Rains in Panama leave 800 homeless

 
PANAMA CITY, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Torrential rains in Panama have left about 800 homeless over the last 24 hours, director of the National System of Civil Protection (Sinaproc) Luis Francisco Sucre said Tuesday.
 
Sucre said that 170 houses were damaged in the towns of San Miguelito, Las Cumbres, Chilibre and Juan Diaz, in the east part of Panama City.
 
"There were two houses that were completely taken away by water; up to now we have not registered any loss of human lives," Sucre said.
 
But some people who lost their houses, furniture and other properties have already requested aid from the government and humanitarian organizations.
 
There were reports of landslides, breaches of traffic regulations and flooding of hundreds of houses in a wide zone of Panama City -- all owing to the rising water level in rivers caused by the heavy rains, Sucre added.
 
Part of the Inter-American Highway was affected by landslides, which led to traffic jams, authorities said.
 
In Panama's San Antonio, a tree was uprooted by the river water, crashing into a bridge, breaking the main piping system and leaving many areas of the east part of Panama City short of water supply.
 
Sucre also said that there is a risk of high waves in the Panamanian Pacific as the tide may rise to as high as 13.6 feet (some 4 meters).
 
Sinaproc advised citizens to take precautions to avoid tragedies and more material losses since the heavy downpour was likely to continue.