Lima, June 9 (RHC)-- The Peruvian government on Thursday declared a state of emergency for 60 days in 18 of the country's 25 regions due to the imminent danger of heavy rains in the face of the arrival of the phenomenon El Niño. 

The Executive took the decision taking into account a report that states that the presence of the phenomenon, whether of "weak or extraordinary" magnitude, would generate floods and mass movements on the Peruvian coast and western slope of the Andes, with consequent personal and material damages.

Within the framework of the official decision, regional and local governments, in coordination with the National Civil Defense Institute (Indeci) and other public and private institutions, "will execute the immediate and necessary emergency measures and actions to reduce the existing very high risk."

Likewise, based on the situation report, it has been identified that the population, housing, communication routes, health, education and road infrastructure, as well as agricultural land and others, require the implementation of measures and actions to reduce the very high risk identified.

The decree specifies that, in view of this possible scenario, the regional authorities "do not have the capacity to address the imminent danger and therefore the technical and operational intervention of the National Government entities is necessary".

The measure was made official through a decree published in the official newspaper El Peruano and includes localities in the departments of Amazonas, Ancash, Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Huancavelica, Huánuco, Ica, Junín, La Libertad, Lambayeque, Lima, Moquegua, Pasco, Piura, San Martín, Tacna, and Tumbes.

As warned in May by the Multisectoral Commission in charge of the National Study of Phenomenon El Niño (Enfen), after its eventual arrival, "coastal El Niño" will last at least until the beginning of spring, which in Peru starts on September 22.