Bolivia declares emergency as El Nino intensifies, threatens severe weather

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz has declared a national state of emergency to mobilize resources and strengthen disaster response as the country braces for severe droughts and flooding linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon.

"This will be a phenomenon that will have very severe impacts in terms of drought and floods, and we need the cooperation of all institutions," Paz said.

Bolivia braces for extreme weather

The president's decree allows the deployment of additional rescue teams and calls for coordination between national and regional authorities, the armed forces and police.

According to a Bolivian government report, drought has:

affected at least 78,000 families across seven of Bolivia's nine departments

led to the loss of more than 75,000 cattle

Authorities have also warned of potential floods, flash floods, and landslides as the rainy season begins.

What is El Nino?

El Nino is a periodic warming of sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific that disrupts global weather patterns, often bringing drought to some regions and heavy rainfall to others.

The current El Nino developed in June and has strengthened rapidly since. It is now on course to become an exceptionally strong — sometimes called "super" — El Nino.

Researchers have estimated that the unusually high temperatures linked to the current El Nino could cause around 451,000 excess deaths worldwide from June 2026 to February 2027.

The United Nations has described the current El Nino, which is expected to peak in December, as "heading off the charts." Its impact could last years, with the UN urging nations in the Pacific to prepare for the worst.

Just in the past month, changing weather patterns associated with El Nino have been linked to: