By David Mercado
TRINIDAD, Bolivia (Reuters) - Floodwater topped a highwayprotecting the Bolivian city of Trinidad on Tuesday,threatening to inundate 95,000 residents already suffering fromsevere flooding in the Amazon region.
The leftist government of President Evo Morales decreed anational disaster, as residents of Trinidad feared the floodscould break the dike and wash away parts of their city.
Floods have forced thousands of people from their homes andkilled at least 51 people nationwide since November, destroyingcrops and roadways as well. The unusually heavy rains areblamed on the La Nina weather phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean.
Tent cities have been set up in and around Trinidad, about310 miles (500 km) northeast of La Paz.
Francisca Ferrufino said she and six relatives had to fleetheir house nearly a month ago when flooding began to affectthe low-lying, poor outskirts of Trinidad.
There's not enough drinking water to go around and foodsupplies have become scarcer and more expensive, she said.
"There are many people who are sick right now with coldsand diarrhoea because of the polluted water and because they'restill trying to gets their things out from inside (floodedhomes)," Ferrufino said.
Some 80,000 square km (30,890 sq mile) are under water inthe Amazonian province of Beni, an area roughly the size ofAustria.
Local radio station Patuju reported that officials believedthe waters covering parts of the dike around Trinidad wouldstop rising in the next two or three days.
"Since the dike was built 25 years ago, this is the firsttime waters have risen above it," said Juan Carlos Zambrana,director of the radio station.
The main fear is that the dike could burst allowing waterto pour into the city.
"If the dike breaks or is surpassed by floodwater, thedisaster would be unfathomable," Trinidad's mayor, MoisesShiriqui, told reporters on Monday, adding that flooding hadaffected at least 25,000 people in the region.
The city, located 508 feet (155 meters) above sea level,was founded in the 18th century by Spanish Jesuits and is thecapital of a cattle-ranching province.
(Additional reporting by Carlos Quiroga in La Paz; Writingby Hilary Burke; Editing by Stuart Grudgings)
