00:00Authorities in La Guayra recommend keeping the town's roads clear to allow for the transport
00:05of injured victims.
00:07Our colleague Madeleine Garcia is on the scene and gives us the details.
00:13Well, as you can see, I'm in the Trebo area at exit from the Caracas-La Guayra Highway
00:19that connects this region with the Penochalang capital.
00:24Yesterday, this area was completely Greek-locked with people going on their motorcycles and
00:33also their cars, too, of course, all driving by the Venezuelan spirit of solidarity and
00:40a desire to help.
00:42But at that crucial moment, during those first few hours, it was essential to keep the road
00:48clear because right behind me, you can see how all the supplies, the necessary vehicles
00:55and the necessary personnel can go through without any problem to assist the victims of
01:02this double earthquake.
01:06So throughout the morning, and as Stu also mentioned, during the early hours of the morning, we saw
01:14the heavy machinery passing by to clear the debris, but the road is also fragile, it's
01:22been damaged, and a bridge collapsed due to the passage of motorcycles and other vehicles.
01:34And many times, well, the President certainly thanked the motorcycle, but at one point the
01:39situation became too chaotic, chaotic, because everybody wanted to go there, and the President
01:54said, don't go there anymore, please don't go any further, because food can reach the affected
02:04areas, and people were there in their homes waiting for food, water, and medicine to arrive,
02:11and so that ambulance can get through.
02:17Yesterday we were following an ambulance, and it couldn't move because it was blocked by
02:23the sheer number of cars, and it needed to get to a health center quickly.
02:31All of this happened yesterday until the President made the decision to restrict access to La Guayra,
02:38which is about a 30 minute drive, but just imagine late at night, one of the rescue teams
02:48from one of the countries that is here, tried to get there quickly to leave, they do this,
02:55they arrive, get organized, and leave immediately, because there is no time to waste.
03:02There, at their operation site, where they are being deployed, all of this happened yesterday,
03:11until the road closed at 8 pm, and so we can see it now, completely clear, and since then, traffic
03:23has been flowing much more smoothly.
03:27The buses that will transport the people from the country that have just arrived have recently arrived.
03:36As of there are a total of 24 countries, 19 of them have sent rescue teams and humanitarian aid to
03:44be there.
03:45There are a little more than 1,600 people deployed here in Venezuela, in addition to civil protection officials,
03:51members of the armed forces and volunteers, who are deployed here at Sargo de Anco on Guayas Island.
03:59And today, as we are now in the final days, there is a registry of volunteers and sisters in place
04:05to bring them to what they need to do, then return.
04:08All this condemnation is being handled by the Governor, because it is the only way to effectively respond.
04:12Yesterday, they made a point that saving lives also means preventing a collapse in the water.
04:20In other words, ensuring they didn't go down there, because a collapse could hinder those bite of first hours.
04:26Yesterday, we were also out in the early morning with those rescue teams who were going from one flooded community
04:33to the next,
04:33and they will have to move quietly to see if they could save many lives there.
04:46So, that's the situation and we, of course, will continue reporting from La Guayra.
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