Heavy Rain Creates National Emergency

The government declared a national emergency as heavy rain pounded much of the country, destroying the homes and crops of tens of thousands of farmers, drowning livestock and flooding key roads. The government said it will spend $35 million to assist flood victims--the largest amount it has pledged in recent memory for victims of a natural disaster. The rain is Bolivia’s heaviest in nearly three decades, according to the government. There were no rainfall totals, but officials said the central South American country has received three times its normal annual precipitation.