Hundreds of people are working throughout the day to try and contain rising flood waters in Bogota which have begun reaching the city’s main international airport.
Eight hundred and fifty employees from Bogota’s Water and Sewage Company (EAAB) along with a Disaster and Prevention Battalion from nearby Tolemaida are working every day from 7AM to 8PM constructing flood barriers. So far, over 30,000 cubic feet of flood defense wall has been built using shovels and a further 20,000 sacks of 110 pounds deployed to be used barriers, El Tiempo reported.
In addition to reaching a runway of the El Dorado international airport, flood waters are beginning to hit the two neighborhoods of Bosa and Engativa in the nation’s capital.
Earlier on Wednesday, Bogota Mayor Samuel Moreno warned that four areas along the river banks are at risk of collapsing, threatening to inundate the aforementioned areas along with Fontibon and Suba, reported Radio Santa Fe.
This year’s heavy rains have been causing havoc throughout the country with several reported closures of major roadways and hundreds of homes being destroyed by landslides.
The most recent official figures had the number of dead at 93 with a further 5 missing and 69,000 homeless. Combined with last year’s rainy season, the number of people affected in the country has surpassed 3 million.