The USNS Comfort, a U.S. Navy hospital ship, will anchor off northern Peru in February 2027. That is the month meteorologists expect El Niño to hit its peak. U.S. Ambassador Bernie Navarro announced the deployment on Wednesday.
The ship has been here before, in 2018 and 2019.
Navarro spoke after meeting Peruvian Foreign Minister Carlos Espá in Miami. Espá said the two governments have drawn up a road map covering equipment, expertise and overflights, all aimed at preventing, softening and responding to the weather event. How much the United States will spend was not disclosed. Espá also sat down with U.S. business leaders interested in Peruvian mining and infrastructure projects.
Speaking in Spanish, Navarro said the point of the meeting was to learn what Peru needs and how Washington can respond fast. He said relief after the recent earthquake in Colombia would have arrived sooner with better coordination. The United States has stepped up humanitarian aid after earthquakes in Colombia and Venezuela, and it is expanding joint military operations in the region.
What forecasters expect
El Niño is a warming of the Pacific near the equator that shifts weather worldwide. Meteorologists say this one could match or exceed the 1997 event, which brought heat waves, heavy rains, floods and forest fires.
President Keiko Fujimori took office on July 28. She has said dealing with the potentially catastrophic phenomenon is a priority.
