On La Guaira’s beaches, Venezuela quake survivors improvise showers and toilets amid water shortages

MAIQUETÍA, Venezuela — Thousands of people affected by the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela last month are increasingly facing challenges accessing clean water as well as sanitation and hygiene services.

Families in the hardest-hit state, La Guaira, have taken to the beach to shower and relieve themselves, with excrement now dotting parts of the once-crowded Caribbean beaches. Others are using the little water that did not spill from their home storage tanks to do dishes and clean themselves. Many are living in temporary shelters or outdoors after 190 buildings collapsed and 856 others were damaged, according to Venezuelan officials, in the back-to-back earthquakes June 24 that killed 3,685 people.

“We always have water in the tank — water reserved — but with the earthquake, most of the tanks in the houses broke,” said Juliani Herrera, 20, of the large blue plastic tanks that many Venezuelan families use to store water on days when the state-owned utility services the areas. “Now, we have to wait to see if a tanker comes and fills buckets.”

Some of the affected communities only had potable water service once every month or two even before the earthquakes. In Maiquetía, known for being home to the country’s main airport, people lined up Wednesday to receive a box bearing the United States flag containing food, water and a hygiene kit that included a soap, toothbrush and body cleansing towelettes.

Herrera received one of the boxes that were handed out at a makeshift shelter adjacent to the beach. She carried it for several blocks, her chin, upper arm and hands covered with iodine-stained scratches that she got when she fell from a motorcycle as the ground shook violently when the quakes hit.

Beatriz Ochoa, regional head of advocacy for Latin America at the Norwegian Refugee Council, in a statement said improved conditions are necessary to prevent spread of diseases as people are living in densely populated settings under high temperatures and seasonal rains and with limited privacy.

“I have seen families doing everything they can to maintain dignity in extremely difficult conditions,” she said. “In one temporary shelter, I saw families organizing themselves to keep common spaces clean, including through makeshift toilets and basic waste management arrangements. Their determination is remarkable, but families should not have to shoulder this burden alone.”