Paraná flood: the bridges are open, boat crossings are closed

Both border bridges are open. In the 11:20 pm reading on 14 October, Guia 3's probes recorded traffic flowing on the Friendship Bridge (Foz–Ciudad del Este) and the Tancredo Neves Bridge (Foz–Puerto Iguazú), in both directions, with no section closed. The live wait is on bridge queue.

What closed: the river crossings

• Paraguay: the National Migration Directorate temporarily shut 14 river border control posts with Argentina and Brazil, because ferry and launch services were suspended during the flood. In our region, the affected post is Tres Fronteras, in Presidente Franco, the boat crossing where the rivers meet. The others are in Itapúa, Misiones and Ñeembucú. Reopening depends on the river dropping and has no date.
• Argentina: in Puerto Iguazú, the Naval Prefecture has suspended boat tours, recreational boating and local cross-border river traffic since 12 October.

If you planned to cross by boat, use the bridges.

How the river is doing

According to Paraguay's National Emergency Secretariat, the Paraná reached a level of 120.99 m at Ciudad del Este, above the 118 m the authorities treat as safe for homes. In Ciudad del Este and Hernandarias, hundreds of families living in low areas by the river and the Acaray-mí stream have been evacuated. The downtown shopping area and the bridges sit on high ground.

The two rivers behind the flood are showing signs of a peak: Itaipu released 21,040 m³/s on 13 October (ONS), the largest volume of this flood, and the Iguazú River reached 15,800 m³/s at the Falls at noon on 14 October and began falling that night. The Paraná gauges have not transmitted since 13 October; follow it on border weather.

Sources: Paraguay's National Migration Directorate (via 1000 Noticias), SEN (via La Nación), Argentine Naval Prefecture, ONS, ANA and Guia 3's own readings.