Before I do, I’m well aware that while my focus on here has been spreading the word about my girlfriend, now safely rescued, there is also a big need for aid and a human cost to this all.

While, thankfully, the death toll has been relatively low, the devastation will be felt for months, even years, to come. More than 23,000 people have been left homeless, while over 37,000 people in the country have been affected by the floods. 80% of homes in the area have been destroyed. More than 16,000 hectares of crops have been damaged, many bridges have been destroyed and some areas of Cusco have no received any aid or help whatsoever.

To that end, Living in Peru has a list of places you can donate to the aid effort. Please take a moment to visit and make a donation.

So, what of both the aid effort and the rescue effort itself? Let’s start with the airlift and then move onto aid.

It was clear on Sunday that there would be a major operation needed to rescue all those trapped in and around Machu Picchu. The railway had been washed away and it would take several weeks to repair. With no way in or out of the village, at the very least, supplies would be needed.

It was also clear that, with just a few helicopters seconded to the area – initially two but rising to 11 – not to mention the devastation to the surrounding area, the effort fell some way short of what was required initially. Even if this was a localised problem, it wouldn’t have hurt to request help from neighbouring countries.

Yet we know from S that, despite reports of airlifts as early as Tuesday, the evacuation didn’t properly start until Thursday. Until then, only one American helicopter made an appearance in Machu Picchu.

The Americans did send helicopters to help evacuate their citizens, as is to be expected. Only after then did Peru manage to get use of their helicopters.

Organising an airlift is probably the easiest thing the  Peruvian government had to do. Phone reception was still working, they knew where the majority of the tourists were stranded. Yet nothing was properly communicated until late Wednesday / early Thursday.

So, here’s the first question. Why did it take so long to organise the airlift? And why was no help request from other countries or outside agencies?

(To this you can add a third question. The tourists may be safely out, but has the Peruvian government left thousands of locals in the surrounding valleys? If so, why? It’s now two days since the tourists were airlifted out?)

And now the aid itself. With so much devastation, with or without tourists, it was clear significant aid was needed. The government insisted it could manage, so made no requests to international aid agencies, the local Red Cross, or other countries.

In essence, the government control every aspect of the rescue and aid effort. If they don’t request any help, none can be given. Yet a week later, other than the tourists and the locals in Machu Picchu, the aid effort appears slow in the wider region of Cusco. This is worrying. The foreign press will now have turned their attention away from Cusco.

The area around Cusco has been designated an emergency zone, not a disaster zone. A disaster zone would have been more likely to bring international aid. An emergency zone meant the government could take care of it themselves? Why? It’s clear that foreign aid would have been useful here.

There are a number of theories you could put here, although it’s worth stressing there’s no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of the Peruvian government. But it does raise questions.

One theory (and apologies, as I’m moving of facts here to speculation) concerns the tourist trade. Peru is currently being sold as a booming economy, albeit one that relies heavily on tourism. It would make life uncomfortable for the authorities if a growing country with a strong economy couldn’t quickly look after its own citizens. They may also be worried about the effect abroad – hence the quick(ish) evacuation of the tourists, and the slowdown when it comes to aid for its own citizens.

The second theory is a little more complicated, and requires a little better understanding of Peruvian politics (and Spanish) than I currently have, but roughly concerns to the politicization of aid efforts.

This news report suggests that an official for the National Programme of Food Aid in Peru (PRONAA) used the agency to promote her own candidacy for upcoming elections.

Now it seems that locals in Cusco, Puno and Aprimac have complained about aid to their regions after the floods being politicised. Meanwhile, the death toll continues to rise.

As a quick end tangent to this, try Googling around the Peru earthquake of 2007, particularly around Pisco. And see how much you can find about progress in rebuilding the area after the quake.

At the end of the day, I’m obviously very grateful that the authorities airlifted S and others out of Machu Picchu, and that when help did finally arrive it was efficient. But it would also be terrible if the government left it just at saving foreign tourists.

There are people in Cusco whose livelihoods and homes have been completely destroyed by these floods. These are also the people who need help the most. They’re counting on their government not to let them down. Let’s hope expectation isn’t where their needs finish.