Colombia’s Pacific port city Buenaventura called an orange alert Tuesday after heavy rainfall since the end of September. The drinking water supply of the city has been seriously disrupted by muddy floodwaters.
The city of over 300,000 residents has declared a state of emergency at its water treatment plant. Local authorities say the high rainfall has caused water turbidity, meaning that there is too much soil in the water. The turbidity level is over eight times the levels the treatment plant can handle.
Without the usual filtration, supplies of drinking water to the city have been disrupted. It is unknown how many residents have been affected so far.
The orange alert was issued after the nearby rivers of San Cipriano and Escalerete overflowed their banks.
Buenaventura, Valle
Sources
- Hay alerta naranja por lluvias en Buenaventura (Caracol Radio).