Flooding in Colombia brings destruction and disease

Más de 20 muertos, 30.000 damnificados, 300 casas destruidas, decenas de carreteras y puentes inservibles y centenares de hectáreas de cultivos anegadas, dejaron las fuertes lluvias caídas esta semana en Colombia, informaron las autoridades.

Los departamentos de Santander y Norte de Santander, en el nordeste, y el Tolima, oeste, son los más afectados por los torrenciales aguaceros, que se iniciaron el pasado martes 8.

El Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales (Ideam, estatal) advirtió que las lluvias se prolongarán durante los próximos días.

La mayoría de víctimas mortales se registraron en Bucaramanga, Girón, Lebrija, Betulia y San Vicente de Chucurí, en el departamento de Santander, donde algunos ríos, como el Frío, el Oro y e Sogamoso, se salieron de su cauce y destruyeron barrios ribereños.

Algunos sectores de Bucaramanga y de sus municipios vecinos fueron declarados por las autoridades como zona de desastre.

El gobernador de Santander, Hugo Aguilar Naranjo, dijo que varios de los municipios de su territorio están incomunicados debido a que decenas de deslizamientos cortaron las carreteras.

Los ministros del Interior, Sabas Pretelt, y de Protección Social, Diego Palacio, así como el director de la Oficina de Atención de Emergencias, Eduardo José González, visitarán este domingo las zonas afectadas.

Los altos cargos evaluarán los daños y las necesidades más sentidas para iniciar los envíos de ayuda oficial a los afectados.

"Estamos invitando a las autoridades para que incrementemos las medidas que impidan la construcción de asentamientos humanos en zonas de riesgo", dijo el ministro del Interior.

Las fuertes lluvias en Colombia y Venezuela, según el Ideam, se originan por la presencia de un frente frío sobre el Caribe.

La entidad advirtió sobre los riesgos de más deslizamientos en zonas de ladera y desbordamiento de algunos ríos. (EFE)

Dramatic rescue captured by amateur video

Photo Blog of the Floods of Colombia

Flooding in Colombia brings destruction and disease

By Marta Lucía Moreno Carreño
The floods damage everything in the village. Septic tanks overflow, contaminating the water that runs through the streets like rivers, and bringing diseases like diarrhoea, colds and dengue fever.
The water brings with it other dangers too, including snakes looking for a dry place to escape from the flood.
"I've lost count of how many I've killed in my house. I don't wait to see if they are poisonous or not, I kill them all," says Miguel, a young man whose modest dream is to get a temporary job in the oil wells near Barrancabermeja.

© UNICEF/Colombia/2008/Duran

In addition to the diseases brought by the floods, children run the risk of poisonous snake attacks when the reptiles enter homes looking for dry places.

A forgotten village
Puerto Casabe is mainly a port for fishermen and boatmen, and many of its residents used to make their living ferrying people from one side of the river to the other. But that was before the bridge between Barrancabermejo and Yondó was built. Today it is a vereda – a small community – whose poverty clashes with the wealth of the oil wells surrounding it.
"The river is life and beauty, and when it's not angry it gives us many fish," says Luz Mary, a fisherwoman from the village. "When everything floods, the gas and electricity go off, and we have to go looking for soggy firewood so we can cook.  Afterwards we're left with the headaches, the itchiness, the colds."

© UNICEF/Colombia/2008/Duran

A young mother carries her son through the flooded streets.

Preventing illness
UNICEF is working to help treat and prevent illnesses among those affected by the flooding. In partnership with the University of Santander, UNICEF has provided humanitarian assistance in health, nutrition and hygiene practices to 4,000 children affected by the emergency throughout the Magdalena Medio region.
Nurses from the Industrial University of Santander are teaching health practices, which is especially appreciated by the villagers. These days, the nurses are among the few people that return to see how they are doing, and they are grateful for the moral support, and for the information the nurses provide about caring for their health and their children, and about hygiene measures they can take in emergency situations.
UNICEF is also distributing water filters and mosquito nets impregnated with repellent to prevent the spread of further disease.



PUERTO CASABE, Colombia, 17 December 2008 – In Puerto Casabe there are 60 families, 98 children, 100 adults and a lot of water. Every year, the majestic Magdalena river floods their wood and brick homes.