Rains Close Panama Canal

Heavy rains kill 10 in Panama, force Canal to closePublished December 09, 2010

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Panama City – Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli confirmed the deaths of eight people resulting from days of heavy rains, raising to 10 the number of fatalities from a storm that has forced authorities to temporarily close the Panama Canal.

A mudslide in the Caribbean coastal town of Portobelo killed eight people and left the community of 3,000 inhabitants cut off from the rest of the country, Martinelli told a press conference at the Emergency Operations Center in Panama City.

Two children also drowned on Tuesday in the waters of the Bayano River, and a woman who was traveling with them in a small boat that capsized is missing.

The closure of the interoceanic waterway, something that in the past had only occurred during the 1989 U.S. military invasion of Panama, was announced by the Panama Canal Authority.

"It's the first time in history that (the Canal has shut down operations) due to the weather," Martinelli emphasized.

The temporary closure was decided upon because of the excess volume of water flowing in the Chagres River, which causes currents that put ships traversing the Canal at risk, said Canal officials.

In addition, authorities ordered the preventive evacuation of the towns located on the banks of the Canal and along the lakes that supply water to its locks.

The Bayano dam, located 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of the capital, has continued to drain the excess water at a high rate, which has added to the already-elevated Bayano river level that has resulted in the flooding of thousands of hectares (acres) downstream.

A hectare is equal to about 2.5 acres.

The president said that the government "didn't have any helicopters" to handle the emergency and had to rent them from companies and use one belonging to Martinelli to evacuate people whose homes had been flooded.

The highways linking Panama City to Colon have also been closed by mudslides and the one leading to Puente Centenario, which crosses the Canal, is partially closed because the road surface cracked and became unstable due to the heavy rains.

Martinelli also announced that authorities expect a reduction in the supply of potable water available to the capital and to the city of La Chorrera, 30 kilometers (19 miles) to the west, due to the effects of the storm on the water purification plants.

Meteorologists with the state-owned utility ETESA say that the rains are expected to continue in the eastern part of the country, as well as in a portion of central Panama, until Friday