LA PAZ (Reuters) – Bolivia’s largest agricultural region, Santa Cruz, is bracing this week against a surprise wave of snow and ice, causing lasting damage to crops and killing cattle in other parts of the country.
Vast parts of the region, known for producing sorghum, soybeans and wheat, among other foods, have been covered in sheets of snow.
Torrential rains have also caused flooding in the valleys of Santa Cruz, prompting road closure, air evacuations and one confirmed death, according to authorities.
“The most important thing in this sector is going to be the replacement of seeds and fertilizers … because now much of this production is already insurmountable,” said the vice minister of civil defense, Juan Carlos Calvimontes.
In the neighboring tropical department of Beni, the frost reportedly killed at least 50 head of cattle. Families have made bonfires near the animals to protect them from hypothermia.
Further north of the country, the cold broke historical records at minus 9 degrees Celsius, while temperatures also plummeted in the southern wine-producing department of Tarija.
(Reporting by Monica Machicao; Writing by Isabel Woodford; Editing by Leslie Adler)
