Venezuela's Santa Elena de Uairén launches flood‑risk early‑warning system

Historic floods in 2022 and 2023 – the worst since 1982 – inundated streets in Santa Elena de Uairén, Venezuela, affecting dozens of communities in the River Uairén basin. In response, the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (UCAB) Guayana extension, through its Center for Regional Studies (CER), partnered with the Gran Sabana municipality to implement a three‑phase risk‑reduction project.

The first phase involved a technical study of the river basin to map how urban growth, irregular construction and drainage systems interact with heavy rainfall. The second phase established a community‑based early‑warning system, installing five artisan rain gauges and a limnometer to monitor river levels and relay data daily to civil protection authorities. The third phase provides training, with the UCAB International Center for Professional Updating (CIAP) delivering a diploma that has so far qualified 36 local leaders, volunteers and public officials.

Project leaders Aiskel Andrade and researcher Jesús Medina stress that the initiative also addresses human factors such as waste management and land‑use planning, and integrates local schools to sustain community vigilance over the long term.