11 Chaucha Communities Still Cut Off by Storms — Military Helicopters Delivering Aid

The Situation

The rainy season keeps hitting hard. Eleven of the 20 communities in the rural parish of Chaucha — located in western Cuenca canton, near the border with Guayas province — have been cut off from the outside world after intense rainfall triggered landslides that destroyed bridges and buried roads.

More than 800 families (over 2,000 people) remain isolated, according to the Junta Parroquial (parish council).

Which Communities Are Affected?

The cut-off communities are: Coca, Zhin Alto, Polo, Baños Yunga, Yubar Potrero, Sucus, Salavina, Naranjos, San José, Gurgur, and Habas.

These are remote, dispersed settlements far from the parish center, each with only a single access road — meaning when that road goes, there's no Plan B.

What Caused It

Days of intense rainfall caused:

• Landslides that blocked the only access roads
• River and creek surges that washed out bridges
• Sections of highway and rural paths simply swept away

The Chaucha area is particularly vulnerable because of its mountainous terrain and limited road infrastructure. One bad storm can sever access for weeks.

The Response

The Armed Forces deployed a military helicopter starting over the weekend to airlift humanitarian aid — food, water, medicine, and emergency supplies — into the affected communities.

Key response actions:

• Helicopter airlifts of humanitarian aid to inaccessible communities
• Emergency evacuation of a pregnant woman experiencing medical complications
• Shelter set up at the Casa Juvenil in the parish center, housing 25 people from Sucus — their community faces avalanche risk and they cannot return safely
• A temporary road opened near Pucán on March 15 for light vehicles only — heavy machinery still can't get through
• Authorities expect heavy equipment within 1-2 days to begin road reconstruction

Why This Matters for Expats

1. If you drive to the coast via Molleturo: The Cuenca-Molleturo-Naranjal highway passes through terrain similar to Chaucha. Heavy rains have already caused a fatal accident on this route this week. Drive with extreme caution or consider the Cuenca-Girón-Machala route instead.

2. Scale of the rainy season: This isn't a one-off event. Southern Cuenca neighborhoods lost water for four days when the Yanuncay River damaged a pipeline. Schools went virtual. The Cuenca-Azogues highway has had closures. This rainy season is severe.

3. How to help: Community leaders are coordinating supply collection via social media. The Archdiocese of Cuenca previously organized a donation campaign for Chaucha families, collecting food, clothing, and hygiene supplies.

The Bigger Picture

Chaucha is one of Cuenca's most remote parishes. Getting there in good weather takes over two hours on winding mountain roads. The isolation these communities face during the rainy season underscores the infrastructure challenges in rural Azuay — and why emergency preparedness matters even in a city as well-resourced as Cuenca.

We'll update this story as road conditions change and aid operations continue.

Source: El Mercurio