Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Wednesday (13) that he estimates that more than US$300 million will be needed for initial aid to deal with the emergency caused by heavy rains in the northwest of the country.
“We are at the forefront of climate change because it is not stopping yet,” he said.
Heavy rains in the Chocó region caused serious flooding that affected thousands of families and caused the destruction of homes and infrastructure in several municipalities.
The department’s governor, Nubia Carolina Córdoba, lamented the situation. “Today the main request is that we be more agile in our attention, there are people who are hungry, there are people who are cold and this hurts us a lot. It hurts us because of our impotence, knowing that we can’t reach certain areas at the speed we have to, it’s very painful for us,” she said.
The floods also left the streets of the capital Bogotá submerged on Tuesday (12). Video obtained by Reuters showed road barriers being removed from a flooded street lined with shops in Bogotá as vehicles moved slowly through flood water.
Torrential rains on the Pacific coast and Andean regions of Colombia have displaced more than 90,000 people and flooded communities, local media reported.
The extreme weather caused widespread flooding and landslides across the country, prompting Colombia’s first left-wing leader to declare a state of national disaster on Sunday (10).
This content was originally published in Floods leave thousands homeless in Colombia on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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