Rising river levels keep the risk high in several municipalities.
News Colombia.
The winter wave continues to generate a complex humanitarian emergency in the Colombian Pacific, where intense rains in recent days have caused several rivers to overflow and widespread flooding in rural and urban areas of Cauca and Nariño.
Municipalities like Guapi, Timbiqui and Lopez de Micayin Cauca, and Iscuandé, in Nariño, face severe damage, with hundreds of homes flooded, loss of crops and entire communities on alert due to the constant increase in river levels.
One of the most critical cases is recorded in Guapi, Caucawhere the municipal mayor’s office reported that the rains caused rivers such as the San Francisco and the Alto Guapiflooding homes and destroying subsistence crops.
According to official figures, more than 17,000 peoplecorresponding to approximately 3,400 familieswere affected in both the urban and rural areas of the municipality.
From the municipal administration, personnel were deployed Risk Management to carry out the census of victims and verify the effects on the ground.
“We are all on alert. From the municipal administration of Guapí we ask the national government, the departmental government and the National Unit for Risk Management to help us promptly mitigate this situation, so that the affected families can recover their dignified life,” said the Guapí Mayor’s Office.
Iscuandé, Nariño: 1,200 families affected
The emergency also hits hard the municipality of Iscuandé, Nariñowhere floods affect both the urban area and several sidewalks. According to the municipal coordinator for Risk Management, there is a preliminary report of between 1,100 and 1,200 families affected.
The rains persist and keep all the neighborhoods of the municipality on alert, while river levels continue to rise, increasing the risk of new floods.
The situation is repeated in other municipalities on the Pacific coast, such as Timbiqui and Lopez de Micaywhere communities face a similar reality: overflowing rivers, damaged homes and loss of crops.
Local and departmental authorities keep the emergency planswhile a call is made to citizens to take extreme precautions in the face of continued rain.
The affected mayors reiterated the urgent call to national governmentto the Cauca Governoratethe Nariño Governorate already National Unit for Disaster Risk Managementto guarantee humanitarian aid and timely attention to affected communities.
