More than 40,000 people in Magdalena are victim of the flood that
followed when the Magdalena river broke through a levee Saturday. Nationwide the
number of victims of landslides and floods have surpassed the million.
Police in Plato — where the levee broke and the water at some points is meters high — restricted access
to the city because of looting.
Magdalena Governor Omar Diaz Granados said officials have delivered
2,500 food baskets, 1,000 hammocks, 1,000 awnings, 5,000 sleeping bags
and 10 rolls of plastic to make shelters.
Plato Mayor Jose Rosales Cortina
said eight of the city’s 11 districts were flooded, including several
government buildings, the courthouse, a clinic and the city’s main
Catholic church. The priest had taken refuge on the second floor of the
parish house.
Even though some food has been delivered, Rosales Cortina said, some people are hungry.
“There is still no official tally, but the losses are in the
multimillions,” Rosales told El Tiempo, “There are stores, houses and
farms destroyed. In sum, people who lost it all.”
The Colombian government has earmarked 484 billion pesos (US$234 million) for aid to the more than million victims of this year’s second rainy season.