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Salto faces major storm emergency; mayor highlights cross-party cooperation
🇺🇾 Uruguay /Disasters & Emergencies

Salto faces major storm emergency; mayor highlights cross-party cooperation

From El País · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Ongoing story
  • Salto's mayor, Carlos Albisu, is managing a severe storm emergency affecting over 250 homes, one fatality, and 21,000 households without power.
  • Albisu emphasized strong collaboration with the national government, stating that "people come first" regardless of political affiliation.
  • The local government is working with national agencies to provide aid, including temporary roofing and restoring electricity, with the agricultural sector also facing significant impact.

Salto's mayor, Carlos Albisu, is leading the response to a devastating storm that struck the department, leaving a trail of destruction. The emergency has impacted over 250 homes, caused one fatality due to a storm-related accident, and left approximately 21,000 households without electricity, including the mayor's own residence.

Albisu stressed the importance of unified action, highlighting the close cooperation with the national government. "People come first here," he stated, emphasizing that political differences are set aside during such crises. President Yamandú Orsi has been in contact with Albisu since the storm's onset and visited the affected areas. The Minister of Livestock, Alfredo Fratti, is also scheduled to visit Salto to declare a farming emergency, as an estimated 80% of horticultural producers have been affected.

Here, people come first.

— Carlos AlbisuThe mayor of Salto emphasized the non-partisan approach to addressing the storm's impact.

The storm, which began early on July 18th, caused widespread damage, including roofs being torn off homes. The local emergency committee (Cecoed) received around 500 calls, with police also receiving numerous reports. While some residents were offered shelter, many were hesitant to leave their homes due to fears of looting, opting instead to stay with relatives. The local utility company, UTE, made significant progress in restoring power, reducing the number of affected users from 21,000 to 5,000 within nine hours.

Albisu acknowledged that while complete preparedness for such extreme events is impossible, Salto has consistently held preparedness meetings with various institutions within the Emergency Committee since his administration began. He noted that the storm primarily affected diffuse areas of the city and surrounding regions like Campo de Todos, Laureles, and Colonia Osimani. Despite the challenges, Albisu praised the collaborative efforts between national and departmental institutions, stating that "there are no divisions; national and departmental institutions work together to solve people's problems, and this is yielding quite positive results."

There are no divisions; national and departmental institutions work together to solve people's problems, and this is yielding quite positive results.

— Carlos AlbisuAlbisu praised the collaborative efforts between different levels of government in managing the crisis.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El País in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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