1.2mn People in Venezuela Cut from Essential Supplies after Floods

CARACAS:
Some 1.2 million people in Venezuela’s Sucre state have been left without access to essentials like fuel and medical supplies after floods damaged a main highway, local media reported.

The highway connecting the state to the neighbouring Anzoategui has been cut off since last week due to flooding and mudslides, making it impossible to deliver essentials such as gas and surgical supplies, Sucre Governor Gilberto Pinto Blanco told the local media on Monday.

Work to clear the highway will continue until “the main access road is totally recovered”, Xinhua news agency quoted the Governor as saying.

Heavy rain has damaged 41 roads in Sucre and 28 in Anzoategui, said Transportation Minister Ramon Velasquez Araguayan.

Last week’s flooding and landslides along the country’s northeastern coast caused at least seven deaths and severe material damage to the towns of Puerto La Cruz and Guanta, authorities said.