57 Died In Ecuador Rainy Season: Officials

INA-  sources

Half a year of intense and destructive rain throughout Ecuador has left 57 dead and 110 injured, the National Risk Management Service said Saturday.

In addition, nearly 31,000 people were affected by the rain, which caused flooding, landslides and damage to thousands of homes and hectares of farmland.

The rainy season entered its seventh month in April and is expected to intensify. Thirty people died and 87 were injured due to the rains in the Andean province of Pichincha alone, according to a report by the relief agency.

Every one of Ecuador's 24 provinces was affected -- with the exception of the Galapagos archipelago, 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) off the coast, the service said.

It said exceptionally strong and prolonged downpours had damaged or destroyed more than 5,455 hectares (13,500 acres) of farmland, as well as 7,176 homes, schools or health clinics.

A January 31 flood and landslide in capital city Quito, caused by the most torrential rainfall seen in two decades, left 28 people dead and 52 others injured.

Due to its location in the equatorial zone, Ecuador experiences just two seasons, summer and winter.

The current rainy season has caused landslides, floods and river overflows, and collapsed structures.

Scientists say climate change is intensifying the risk of heavy rain around the world because a warmer atmosphere holds more water.