Paraguay faces river and rainfall flooding, raudales, severe storms, strong wind, hail, tornadoes, prolonged drought, forest, grassland and urban fires, cold weather and accidents or other events covered by Ley 2615/05. Flooding has repeatedly displaced large populations, including more than 300,000 people in 2014 and about 150,000 in 2019. Drought has produced recurring emergencies in the Chaco since 2002, especially where Indigenous and rural communities lack reliable water storage, distribution and access. The Región Oriental and Región Occidental, also called the Chaco, can therefore require different supplies, transport arrangements and public responses. The Secretaría de Emergencia Nacional (SEN), attached to the Presidency, coordinates prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, rehabilitation and reconstruction. Municipalities, gobernaciones and local emergency organizations handle immediate local action and mobilize available resources. A Consejo de Emergencia Distrital or another Organización distrital/departamental de emergencia may coordinate locally. The Cuerpo de Bomberos Voluntarios del Paraguay (CBVP) provides operational emergency response, while the Policía Nacional and Sistema 911 manage dispatch and security. Depending on the event, the Armed Forces, Ministerio de Salud Pública y Bienestar Social, Instituto Paraguayo del Indígena, Ministerio de la Niñez y la Adolescencia, Ministerio de la Mujer, Cruz Roja Paraguaya, Administración Nacional de Electricidad and Empresa de Servicios Sanitarios del Paraguay may provide support. The Dirección de Meteorología e Hidrología (DMH) publishes official weather warnings, forecasts and regional or departmental information. SAT-SEN, the SEN warning service and application, distributes DMH alerts together with SEN safety recommendations. The absence of an alert does not guarantee safety because local conditions can change quickly. Households should keep drinking water, food, medicines, identity documents and essential contact information ready, and plan how to move children, older people, people with disabilities, livestock and pets. Communities and authorities may use contingency plans, drills, evacuation exercises, strategic stocks and EDAN Digital, a digital system for recording damage and needs. A life-threatening emergency can be reported through the free nationwide 911 service. Fires can be reported to 132 and medical emergencies to 141. The SEN can be contacted at (0986) 111-001 or (0983) 235-331, or at mesadeentrada@sen.gov.py. Reports should state the exact location, hazard, people at risk and access barriers. Do not enter floodwater or an active fire area, and follow official evacuation instructions. The district organization normally leads evacuation, with operational coordination from the CBVP. Municipalities, gobernaciones and the SEN can establish safe paths, transport and temporary shelters. SEN assistance has included structural tents, mattresses, blankets, food kits, water, transport and logistics. People should communicate medical, accessibility and other urgent needs early because assistance is assessed according to needs, damage and available capacity; no universal automatic benefit is established by the available evidence. Ley 2615/05 distinguishes a Situación de Emergencia, used when ordinary SEN capacity is exceeded, from a Situación de Desastre, used when the capacity of the national system is exceeded. A declaration may cover a municipality, department, region or the whole country and allows extraordinary resources, direct emergency procurement and support for rehabilitation and reconstruction. Public bodies coordinate prevention and response, and residents should follow official safety and evacuation directions and provide usable incident information. During a declared disaster, private resources may be temporarily requisitioned with compensation under the law. The available evidence does not establish a general individual compensation right, fixed nationwide reimbursement or guaranteed response time. Recovery begins with damage and needs assessment, followed by humanitarian stabilization, rehabilitation and reconstruction that should include prevention and mitigation measures. Common priorities include river settlements, flood-prone access paths, Chaco water storage and distribution, roads, electricity, water supply and communications. Response time depends on the event, access conditions and available capacity, and local arrangements can differ substantially between municipalities and departments.
Disasters in Paraguay
Disasters in Paraguay include floods, severe storms, drought, wildfires and other emergencies that threaten people, infrastructure or the environment. The Secretaría de Emergencia Nacional (SEN) coordinates national prevention, preparedness, response, rehabilitation and reconstruction, while municipalities and departments manage much of the immediate local action. Official alerts, household supplies, emergency contacts and early evacuation reduce danger when conditions deteriorate.
Tip
Treat disaster readiness in Paraguay as a local, hazard-specific plan rather than a single national checklist. Keep essential supplies, documents, medicines, emergency contacts and a way to move people, livestock and pets ready, and follow DMH and SAT-SEN alerts together with official evacuation instructions. Do not assume that SEN assistance, compensation or a fixed response time is automatic.