Colombia: Rains Leave 47 Dead and Over 18,000 Families Affected

Colombia's National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) reported that the heavy rains left at least 47 dead, 49 injured and 7 people missing.

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From March 16 to May 9, the rains also affected 18,100 families and affected 285 municipalities in 25 out of 32 departments. Among the departments with the greatest damage were Antioquia, Cauca, Santander, Huila, Tolima, and Nariño.

Besides destroying 185 houses, the rains caused damage to 9,300 dwellings, 480 roads, 48 ​​bridges, 24 pedestrian bridges, 64 aqueducts, 27 sewers, 2 health centers, and 54 educational facilities.

During this season, there have been 271 landslides, 129 floods, 64 sudden floods, 37 gales, 13 storms, 11 torrential floods, and 4 hailstorms.

"Since March 16, 529 events have already been registered, mostly mass movements and floods, which are the phenomena that greater amount of affectations generate us", said Fernando Carvajal, the director in charge of the UNGRD.

"This has been a season of much more rain, which has caused us serious damage," he added when recalling that for the second consecutive year there is the La Niña phenomenon, which has caused rain since August of last year.

La Niña is an oceanic and atmospheric phenomenon that is the counterpart of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate pattern. La Niña is derived from the cooling of the waters of the Pacific Ocean.