Ecuador Declares State of Exception Due to El Niño

The government of Ecuador has declared a state of exception in 17 of its 24 provinces ahead of the arrival of El Niño, which is still gaining strength in the Pacific Ocean.

President Rafael Correa’s ordered the measure by decree to mobilize and coordinate the efforts of all public and private institutions in the country and implement the necessary actions to protect the population from the potential risks posed by the weather phenomenon.

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Correa ordered the Ministry of Finance to "provide sufficient resources to address the situation of emergency," which will be in place for 60 days.

The measure applies to the provinces of Tungurahua, Sucumbios, Orellana, Napo, Pastaza, Morona Santiago and Zamora Chinchipe, all of them located in the Amazon, except the first.

Authorities have said the preventive measure was pushed forward after meteorologist concluded that the effects of El Niño could be similar to those in 1997, when it caused losses equivalent to 14.5 percent of Ecuador’s GDP.

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U.S. National Weather Service Experts have said El Niño will be “merciless” this year. According to the experts, this week the weather pattern started setting records of its own, with some of the warmest weekly temperatures ever seen across swaths of the equatorial Pacific.

El Niño causes a weakening of winds, allowing heat to accumulate. This weather shift causes flooding in some areas and droughts in others.

Ecuador and its neighbor Peru could be the most directly affected countries with severe floods, outbreaks of mosquito-borne illnesses, and catastrophic crop and infrastructure damage.