CMPC maintains deployment in southern Chile to help people affected by heavy rains

Since the beginning of the contingency caused by the weather front that has affected hundreds of families since mid-August, the company has made available heavy machinery and gathered information in order to help out the towns of Maule, Ñuble and Biobío, regions in south central Chile. In addition, support was given to individuals in the agricultural world through the CMPC – Socabío agreement.

Due to the inclement weather of the last frontal system, many people in south-central Chile underwent quite challenging situations during the month of August. This was resoundingly demonstrated in the recent statement by Chile’s National Service for Disaster Prevention and Response (Senapred), reporting 38,340 people suffered serious damage, 41,471 are isolated and 1,854 are being sheltered between the Regions of Valparaíso and Biobío in the central and south central parts of Chile.

Due to these events, CMPC immediately deployed teams in the regions of Maule, Ñuble and Biobío in the south-central area of the country to go to the aid of its neighboring communities. This work was done in coordination with local authorities and neighborhood councils.

Company representatives went to the Río Claro, Empedrado, San Javier, Constitución, Cauquenes and Linares districts to support the emergency in the Maule Region. In the last two days, they extended their efforts to the towns of Longaví and Curicó.

This is where the company made its machinery available to help with diverting and correcting water channels, road cleaning and debris removal. In addition, a registry was drafted to deliver boxes of merchandise, personal hygiene kits and other supplies to deal with the ravages of abundant rainfall.

In Ñuble, CMPC went to help in Chillán, Yungay, San Ignacio, Pemuco, San Nicolás and Coihueco. In coordination with local authorities, excavators and backhoes were used to clear and ready the roads after which a thorough record was drawn up to figure out what contributions of merchandise, hygiene, items for the elderly, coats, and other items were needed to deal with the emergency.

Partnership with Socabío

As in other regions, Biobío also took measures to address situations such as overflowing estuaries and rivers, and their repercussions on the community. In this area, an important donation of fodder was made for the inhabitants of Quilleco, through an effort in association with the Agricultural Society of Biobío (Socabío).
Multi-union President José Miguel Stegmeier stressed that, “This is based on an agreement that we have prepared with CMPC that got started with the fires that affected the area last February. At that point we began delivering fodder to a number of communities, especially in the most affected districts. Now we are delivering aid from the same program for those affected by the floods. Similar to what happened this past June, there’s once again been a lot of damage done in this area where we’d already delivered wheat and other foods awhile back. This is our second time providing goods to people in the area. This is gratifying for us as farmers, of course also for CMPC, because we are reaching out to communities that are our neighbors.”

Such thoughts were shared by Waldo Pérez, head of the CMPC Community Relations Department for the Rucamanqui sector of the Araucanía Region. He said, “Today we are delivering hay bales in the Ramadillas sector. We also have properties nearby, and we interact with local residents. We are delivering 120 bales to neighbors who have been damaged by the latest floods, especially in this region. For us it is very gratifying to be able to help the community. We’re just another neighbor in this area; however, we believe we have an important responsibility to help out those closest to us. I’d tell the community to count on us.”

Area resident Francisco Matamala said, “The weather has been bad. These bales are great insulators, and we appreciate them very much. The river overflowed to reach our properties, and we really needed the bales because they’d gotten soaked. This is good for the animals.” Camperos del Valle Club President Alexis Maureira added, “The damage for us was not too bad. Every bit of help is very welcome and helps us out, be it grass or fodder.”