Snow expected to continue for about 60 days. Humanitarian catastrophe unfolding.

1 Sep 13 - Snowfall in parts of the southern highlands of Peru has killed more than 25,000 animals and destroyed 137 homes, according to the National Institute of Civil Defense (Indeci).
(These are government numbers. I earlier reported that 250,000 alpacas had been killed in Peru. This is on top of the 70,000 animals killed in Bolivia.
The national government on Saturday declared a state of emergency in 250 localities of the country since the snow is expected to continue for about 60 days.

Until Saturday, there were a total of 5,247 people injured and 739 homes declared uninhabitable in Apurimac (south), Cusco (southeast), Ayacucho (South Central), Huancavelica (center), Puno (southeast) and Junin (center) .

The deputy director of humanitarian assistance and mobilization of the National Institute of Civil Defense (Indeci), Eric Cortijo, reported that this phenomenon affected more than 67,000 people. (I don't know what he meant by "affected.")

He stressed that this storm left 739 homes uninhabitable, 316 kilometers of roads damaged and 252 hectares of crops affected. (Again, I don't know what he meant by "affected.")

In Puno, only 10 000 blankets were distributed.
http://www.boliviatv.bo/noticias/internacional/01-09-2013/mueren_mas_de_25_mil_animales_po r_nevada_en_la_sierra_sur_de_peru_8f5c90e45ceeba56845861a65217c9bc.htm

Thanks to Argiris Diamantis for this link

"Much of this we already knew... 25.000 dead animals," says Argiris. "However this site says a few things that are new."

"The state of emergency was declared by the Peruvian authorities because according to their information the snow will stay there for a period of about 60 days. The weather forecast for 1-6 September is deep frost. Only 10.000 blankets have been distributed."

"I have this gut feeling that the South America snowfall story is by far not over yet, a humanitarian catastrophe can be expected (for a great part it already happened)."