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Colombia flood toll reaches 170

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:32 GMT

Source: alertnet // Anastasia Moloney

People use canoes to move around and transport goods in the flooded streets in El Banco, a village on the Magdalena's river bank December 16, 2011. REUTERS/Joaquin Sarmiento

By Anastasia Moloney

BOGOTA (AlertNet) - Heavy rains and ensuing landslides have killed 170 people in Colombia, as the South American nation continues to grapple with one of its worst rainy seasons in decades, Colombian authorities have said. 

Widespread flooding, caused by torrential rains which began in September, have disrupted the lives of over 800,000 Colombians, washed away swathes of food crops and damaged around 135,000 homes, according to the latest report by Colombia’s Disaster Risk Management Agency (DGR).

Four major rivers across Colombia are at high risk of flooding and are on red alert, the agency says.

Thousands of Colombians living in the worst affected regions in the country’s northern provinces and along its Pacific coast have been forced to leave their homes as flood waters continue to swamp homes and farmland.

Fighting by Colombian rebel groups and roads blocked by debris and landslides have made it difficult to reach affected communities with humanitarian aid in Colombia’s northeastern region of Catatumbo, near neighouring Venezuela, said the United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA).

“The situation regarding humanitarian access in the Catatumbo region is made difficult not only because of the consequences of the rainy reason, but also because of fighting by armed groups,” OCHA’s latest report states.

Some communities have been without access to clean water for more than a week, the report adds.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE

Earlier this month, the government of Juan Manuel Santos set up a special ministerial taskforce and a new state disaster risk management agency to deal with the flooding and aftermath. The government has allocated $500 million to deal with the disaster, promising families affected by flooding up to $1,550 each to rebuild their homes and businesses. 

But the high death toll has renewed calls for local government authorities to implement better prevention measures and ensure families living in flood-prone areas are evacuated ahead of the annual rainy season.

There are several ongoing investigations by Colombia's chief ombudsman and the attorney general's office to determine whether some local authorities have mismanaged state funds allocated for disaster risk prevention, whether they have failed to put prevention measures in place, like improving drainage systems, or failed to identify residential areas at risk from landslides.

The government recently defended its record on dealing with the flooding.

“In general terms the truth is that the response has been robust. Wherever a landslide happens the machinery is there,” Colombia’s president, Juan Manuel Santos, told local radio earlier this week.

(Editing by Rebekah Curtis)