Paraguay News: Neembucu Villagers Not Leaving Homes Despite Flood Warnings

Despite repeated flood warnings, residents in southeastern Paraguay declined to abandon their homes.

According to BBC, officials have already ordered the evacuation over the weekend as per the recommendation of dike experts looking into the flooding situation.

It noted that the Paraguay river has already reached a critical level at 32 feet which is already near spilling point with the danger of bursting flood defenses.

Joaquin Roa, head of the National Emergency group, said in the BBC report that "a breach of defenses" is nearing and could kill residents living near the river.

But people from Neembucu, a department located in the south of the Eastern Region of the country, did not heed the advice of local officials to leave their residences.

Neembucu Governor Carlos Silva explained that residents in the area refuse to believe the type of danger they are facing because of the flooding.

In an AFP report published by Channel News Asia, it added this was the same scenario in the village of Alberdi where many of its 10,000 residents are still not listening to calls for evacuation.

"The dike is leaking. Water is gushing out of it and our experts say there is a big risk that it will burst open like a tsunami. There is a wall of water heading south. We cannot wait any longer. We have to evacuate," Roa told AFP.

But Alberdi mayor Federico Centurion noted that some 50 families seem not be afraid of this impending danger.

Instead of evacuating, locals have reportedly piled sandbags to protect their houses from floodwaters.

"The inhabitants of Alberdi do not want to believe that the dike can collapse," added the Alberdi mayor.

Village resident Gabriela Gonzalez mentioned in the AFP report that they think that authorities are exaggerating the situation since she claimed that it is not possible for the water to come out through the dike.

NBC News reported that more than 100,000 individuals in Paraguay have already abandoned their homes because of the flooding, which is said to be the worst in years.

Those who left their residences are currently housed in makeshift shelters built in parks and other public spaces in areas safe from the effects of the rise of water level.

These people are among the more than 160,000 displaced in the entire South America due to flooding.

In Argentina, Al Jazeera noted that 20,000 have been displaced while thousands are also affected in Brazil and Uruguay.

Eight deaths in Paraguay (6) and Uruguay (2) were recorded to have been caused by falling trees and electrocution brought by flooding.