In the last week alone, more than 200,000 persons and nearly seven thousand homes suffered damage in different parts of the nation due to the strong floods, especially in Alta Guajira, Chocó and Bogotá.

The National Government declared a situation of National Disaster throughout Colombia for a period of 12 months, extendable for the same duration. The decree allows the Executive to use all legal and constitutional tools to deal with the hydrometeorological crisis, which affects several regions due to a winter wave.

According to the emergency report of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management, so far this year Colombia has recorded 8,396 climatic and disaster events that has caused significant impacts. Based on reporta, 952 municipalities have been affected, two million people and 244,553 families have been harmed, 92 persons have died and 171 have been injured; 101,639 homes have been damaged, more than a thousand have been destroyed and more than 280,000 hectares of crops have been razed.

President Gustavo Petro, stated that Colombia cannot continue with the engineering of the 20th century that goes against water, that channels, hides or builds on water sources because, nature is becoming more and more violent against life. “Water will regain its space, with its strength, and if we do not adapt engineering, urban planning, population location, give space to water — as I have said for several years — then the solutions will be incomplete and there will be more and more deaths,” he stressed.

In light of the recent tragedy, Petro noted that it is necessary to provide food and health care to families, thus it is then necessary to apply fundamental solutions, including: resettlement of communities considered vulnerable and the creation of a map where the territories with the greatest weaknesses should be identified.

jrr/llp/jha/ifs