This year’s rainy season has left 18 Colombians dead, five missing, and 87 injured, while almost 73,000 have been affected by the extreme weather conditions since the beginning of April, according to the Colombian government.
The latest fatalities were two children, who were reported missing after a torrential downpour early Saturday morning in the muncipality of Florencia, in the south-west Caqueta department. Some 3,000 residents were affected by the downpour, which caused three rivers in Caqueta to burst their banks
Colombia’s Ai Force air lifted 16 tons of humanitarian aid provided by the National Emergency System to those affected by the most recent flood, National Emergency Director Amanda Pulido told Caracol Radio.
Pulido said emergency services will focus on the distribution of the aid – food, drinking water, cooking implements and bedding – and that all those left homeless by the flooding will be provided with housing.
The emergency services director added that the national government is waiting for the Florencia Mayor’s office to advise where 220 houses should be built for the families who lost their homes during the flood.
According to the Ministry for the Interior and Justice, so far this year 15,997 families have been affected, 124 houses destroyed and 13,473 damaged by rains, flooding, landslides and gale force winds.
Interior and Justice Minister Fabio Valencia said that rains had caused emergencies in 129 of Colombia’s 1,102 municipalities, in the departments of Antioquia, Arauca, Atlantico, Boyaca, Caldas, Caqueta, Casanare, Cauca, Cesar, Choco, Cordoba, Cundinamarca, Huila, Meta, Nariño, Norte de Santander, Santander, Putumayo, Quindio, Risaralda, Tolima and Valle del Cauca, as well as Colombia’s capital city Bogota.