This year’s second rainy season has killed 134 in Colombia and has affected more than 500,000, the Red Cross said Wednesday.
“The situation is very delicate,” Red Cross representative Cesar Urueña told Spanish press agency EFE.
Urueña said the number of victims is “very high” considering the rainy season didn’t begin until September.
The Red Cross representative warned that if rains continue, “the situation becomes very delicate in large parts of areas at risk, like that of Bogota” where according to Urueña the rains have affected at least 50,000 people.
The Bogota river flooded the homes of some 10,000 people Tuesday, forcing the local authorities to declare an emergency.
Nationally, floods and mudslides caused by the rains destroyed 967 homes and damaged 78,000 others.
According to Colombia’s meteorology institute, the rainy season is not ending in mid December as usual, but expected to last until the beginning of next year.