Road closures, floods and several victims after heavy rains in Santander and Antioquia

The winter wave in the country continues to wreak havoc in different areas of Colombia, as the heavy rains that occurred between the night of Monday, March 14 and the early morning of the 15th, have caused severe floods and collapses that have relief agencies on high alert for any eventuality during the day. The departments of Santander and Antioquia have been the hardest hit by this environmental crisis.

In Santander, the Official Volunteer Fire Department of Floridablanca, alerted about the official start of the rainy season for 2022 in this region, on the first day both Bucaramanga and the metropolitan area, recorded floods that left several municipalities incommunicado due to the high level of rivers and the overflow of some of these, added to this, several citizens reported floods that ended up directly affecting their homes, as the water came to cover several centimeters of them; mainly in the municipality of Girón, Malaga and San Gil.

The road between Bucaramanga and San Gil presents a single lane passage at this time, as the rainfall the previous night caused a great fall of trees and rocks on this national highway, in the vicinity of the Curos sector the authorities reported the total closure of the road in the evening hours, however, after this it arrived machinery, the Traffic Police and firefighters of the municipality of Piedecuesta, after the arduous operations carried out were able to enable the passage to a single lane in this area of the province of García Rovira.

From the Bucaramanga Traffic and Transport Police, they made the official report: “All citizens are informed that they have passed restricted to a lane on the San Gil - Bucaramanga road between kilometers 64 and 71. Sector known as Curos, all due to the recent collapses and falls of trees that originated in On the occasion of the different rains that occurred in this sector, we recommend that all drivers travel with great caution, follow the instructions of the different traffic authorities and relief agencies, be aware of emergency lines, social networks and media, where information can be provided on the state of the track”.

At the same time, the authorities enabled the passage on the Acapulco highway, because the flooding of the La Ruitoca ravine caused the temporary closure of the highway taking into account that water covered part of this artery. The Floridablanca firefighters arrived at the scene to verify the behavior of this watershed and also, all the rivers that flow in the vicinity of the motorway between Floridablanca and Piedecuesta. For the time being, the authorities decreed the orange alert throughout the department in the face of the upcoming rains.

In Antioquia, more than 600 families were evacuated in the municipality of San Carlos, the victims were transferred to temporary shelters with the support of the National Army. Several citizens told Blu Radio that in the face of the sudden flood they were unable to remove their belongings, which is why they lost everything, considering that the water reached almost to the knees of those affected, that they had to leave their homes supported by relief agencies.

The Administrative Department of Risk Management of Antioquia stated that there is complete provision by the risk management council, in order to operate in a timely manner in the region of eastern Antioquia, since the arrival of the phenomenon of la niña could trigger stronger effects in the remainder of this month of March and the beginning April, therefore, it is recommended that the community be ready to act on any emergency information.

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