Evacuees increase after rains in Viota, Cundinamarca

Heavy rains in Cundinamarca and other regions of Colombia are already wreaking havoc. In the municipality of Viotá, the authorities had to evacuate the inhabitants of this area.

Due to the emergency, the governor of Cundinamarca, Nicolás García, traveled to the municipality where he held the Departmental Risk Council, in the village of Liberia Baja, where two people disappeared after an avalanche took a house.

He also added that “for the safety of both relief personnel and families, this instruction has been given to those who are no longer in their homes, we are assuming the value of the rent, of hotel nights in different places here in the municipality or locating with families, with the commitment to have a property that is of Governorate for the immediate housing relocation project”.

The governor assured that they will supply the inhabitants of the municipality of Viotá with drinking water, as well as psychosocial support for those affected.

“We have brought water storage tanks because three sandwiches left with the landslides, so that we can have supply not only here but in several villages of the municipality, we have brought yellow machinery and also psychosocial support for the people who have been affected.”

On the other hand, Manuela Marín, members of the Comunes party, asked for help for people affected by winter in Viotá.

“Viotá needs our solidarity! Non-perishable food, blankets, mats, medicines, dog and cat food, among others, are required. You can deliver these grants at the La Roja Cultural House on Calle 41 No. 20-09 from 12 m. to 8 p.m.”, trino.

The rainy season in Colombia leaves at least five new fatalities in two municipalities in Cundinamarca, in the center of the country. In the rural area of Cachipay, 53 kilometers east of Bogotá, a landslide recorded around midnight buried two inhabitants while riding a motorcycle.

In the last few hours, three people were found dead, said the governor of Cundinamarca, Nicolás García Bustos, in a statement. Bustos announced assistance with machinery to remove rocks and a tank car with drinking water because the emergency damaged the communal aqueduct in the area.

Colombia is going through a rainy season and the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies on Wednesday predicted heavy rainfall in Cundinamarca during the rest of the week, as well as high risk of landslides. Colombia remains alert in much of the country for possible sudden increases in rivers, overflows and floods.

These emergencies due to the first rainy season in Colombia are no stranger to the rest of the country. According to the latest report by the National Crisis Room of the National Crisis Room of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (Ungrd), 276 events associated with precipitation were presented between March 16 and April 18, affecting 5,177 families.

The events, which were reported in 166 municipalities in 19 departments, also left 28 people dead, one missing, and 45 others injured. According to the report, the departments most affected are Cundinamarca, Antioquia, Cauca, Tolima, Nariño, the Coffee Region.

“Ideam has made an important appeal to us this week to activate alerts even more in our country. It's been a month of constant rains. During Easter, it did not stop raining, on the contrary, rainfall increased and generated a wide variety of events in the country. We have soils saturated with water, rivers with high levels and we still have two more months of rain,” warned the director of the UNGRD, Eduardo José González, emphasizing that Colombians must remain vigilant and not let down their guard.

In the area of housing, Risk Management reported that there are already 2,004 that have registered “some kind of breakdown or damage”, while another 107 were completely destroyed. In the case of large infrastructures, Ungrd reported damage to 335 roads, 39 aqueducts, 17 educational institutions, as well as 34 vehicular and 4 pedestrian bridges.

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