Ecuador Pluvial Flood 2026 - DREF Operation (MDREC030)

Country: Ecuador Source: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Please refer to the attached file. Description of the Event Date when the trigger was met 13-03-2026 What happened, where and when? According to information obtained from the SNGR's sitrep 56, from January 1, 2026 to the present, 1,957 adverse events due to rainfall have been recorded, affecting 24 provinces, 191 cantons and 634 parishes. The most recurrent events correspond to: floods (38.32%), landslides (37.00%), intense rains (9.15%), water erosion (4.14%), subsidence (3.47%), alluvium (2.96%), gales (2.10%) and falls (collapses)(1.43%) among the main ones. Although most of the events are related to landslides, it should be mentioned that most of them are registered on road axes, which are enabled by the local GADs immediately. Meanwhile, the impact of floods and heavy rains on the population and their homes is mainly registered in the provinces of Guayas (39.01%), Los Ríos (15.95), Esmeraldas (11.73%), El Oro (10.97%), Manabí (7.22%), Loja (6.61%) and Santa Elena (6.24%), percentages calculated in relation to the total number of events registered at the national level. In view of this situation, on March 12, 2026, through Resolution No. SNGR- 48-2026, the National Secretariat of Risk Management resolved: MODIFY the Regional Emergency Declaration issued on February 27, 2026, to a National Emergency Declaration for a period of sixty (60) days, due to the generalized impact on the population, housing and critical infrastructure. Considering this resolution, on the same day, by Executive Decree No. 325 signed by the Presidency of the Republic, it is resolved to declare as a national priority the articulated and immediate execution of preparedness, response and recovery actions in the face of the impact caused by the rainy season throughout the country. During this period, a total of 22 local Emergency Declarations have been registered. For attention and coordination of response actions, the following are active: 1 National COE, 18 provincial COE, 87 cantonal COEs and 25 parish COEs. According to the weather forecast issued by INAMHI on March 15, it is indicated that, in the following days, partly cloudy skies are expected in the coastal region in the coastal area and very cloudy inland; in the Inter-Andean region, sunny to partly sunny skies are expected; in the Amazon there will be very cloudy skies with scattered rains in the southern provinces; while in the Insular region partly cloudy skies will predominate. At the national level, at the moment 23 water bodies (rivers) are reported overflowing, of which 17 are in the province of Los Ríos and 6 in Guayas. Likewise, 34 bodies of water have a tendency to increase their level, distributed as follows: 8 in Los Ríos, 8 in Guayas, 7 in Esmeraldas, 6 in El Oro, 2 in Azuay, 2 in Chimborazo and 1 in Morona Santiago, a situation that maintains permanent monitoring. In order to evaluate the level of territorial vulnerability to possible floods, a spatial analysis was carried out focused on the identification of areas at risk of being affected, taking as a reference the bodies of water reported with floods by the National Secretariat for Risk Management between January 1 and March 17, 2026. This analysis is not limited to locating only rivers with a history of incidents, but incorporates an approach that delimits their area of influence through geoprocessing of "buffers" and links it directly to sensitive elements of the territory, such as homes, educational institutions and health care centers. Instead of registering the impacted areas, it evaluates what possible effects are within a radius of 1 kilometer from the margin of the overflowing rivers, representing a probable scenario that allows estimating the exposure of the infrastructure and the community, for decision-making and response actions. As a result of the analysis, indicators and statistics were obtained that allow both the population and the infrastructure potentially vulnerable to floods to be dimensioned. It is important to note that this study does not determine specific impacts that have occurred, but rather offers a preventive estimate of exposure, becoming a tool for the identification of critical areas and areas of greater risk. The information generated is essential to guide planning and optimize the allocation of resources in the face of adverse hydrometeorological events. 18,279 homes affected and 112 destroyed, the institutional reports of the complementary rapid analysis both in the field and with secondary data (aerial photos) and with a projection in a radius of up to 1 km of the main overflowing water bodies, it has been possible to identify that at least 252,517 people have been impacted in territories with a higher level of exposure, which are concentrated in Esmeraldas, Los Ríos and Guayas, as detailed below: Esmeraldas province, Muisne canton, where overflows are reported that would impact 1

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