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waltky
04-01-2017, 06:35 PM
Big ol' landslide in Colombia...
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Colombian landslide victims' desperate calls for help
Sat, 01 Apr 2017 - Colombians made desperate calls from rooftops as landslides moved in to wreck their sleeping town.


"We are begging for help, the river has got us, help us please." This was the desperate message in just one of the many phone calls made to emergency services in the Colombian province of Putumayo on Sunday night as landslides rushed into neighbourhoods and began to sweep homes away. Another resident made a call from the roof of her home as the water levels rose around her. Barely able to catch her breath, she cried: "Please help us, the water has entered my house. It's taken all the gear, the car. Please help us." She called on "the emergency services, the mayor, everyone" to help her neighbourhood of La Esmeralda, in the provincial capital, Mocoa. Pleas were also made for helicopters to be sent.


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The Colombian Army was deployed to help victims escape

Mocoa, a town of around 40,000 inhabitants in the country's south-west, has been devastated by floods and mudslides that came without warning. They were sparked by a night of extremely heavy rain, which raised the water levels of the Mocoa River and three tributaries. Many residents were asleep in their beds when the disaster struck, leaving them little or no time to get to safety. Don Evaristo Garces, a local that managed to get away, told the Semana news site that he and his family escaped because they live on a hill, away from the water's reach. He said the next morning they went out to look for their friends, and were greeted by a "stampede" of residents running towards the mountain.


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Soldiers have had to dig people out from the mud and debris

Another resident of Mocoa, Orlando Davila, told Semana he saw parents crying because they could not find their children, and feared they had been swept away by the currents. Rescue services have been working to reach the injured and remove mountains of debris, but bad weather has hampered their efforts. Fallen bridges and flooded roads have also slowed them down. Many residents are still missing. "There are lots of people in the streets, lots of people displaced, and many houses have collapsed," retired Mocoa resident Hernando Rodriguez told AFP news agency. "People do not know what to do," he said. "We are just scarcely realising what has happened to us."

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39469033

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Colombia landslides: More than 100 die as Putumayo suffers heavy rain
Sat, 01 Apr 2017 - Dozens are injured and many missing in Putumayo province as heavy rain causes mudslides.


Landslides have killed at least 154 people in south-west Colombia and left many more injured, says President Juan Manuel Santos. Hours of heavy rains overnight caused rivers to burst their banks, flooding homes with mud in Putumayo province. An unknown number of people are missing. One army officer said the main local hospital was struggling to cope. Mr Santos, who has travelled to the area, said troops had been deployed as part of a national emergency response. He declared a state of emergency in the region. The national fire service said at least 190 people had been injured.


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The landslide destroyed homes and buried cars

The region's governor, Sorrel Aroca, told Colombian media that whole neighbourhoods had been buried. Rescue services said their efforts had been hampered by continuing bad weather and damaged infrastructure. "There are mobility issues on almost 80% of the roads, and from where the road ends, it is three hours to where the landslide took place," said one police officer. Bridges have also been swept away. Jose Antonio Castro, mayor of the provincial capital Mocoa, told Caracol radio that the town was "totally isolated", without electricity and water.


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On arriving at the scene, President Santos told reporters, "My heart and the hearts of all Colombians are with the victims of this tragedy." An alarm had sounded as the river's levels rose, leading many people to leave their homes for shelter, and avoiding wider loss of life, Colombia's El Tiempo newspaper said. The mudslides were caused by the rise of the Mocoa river and three tributaries, a representative of the National Disaster Risk Management Unit told AFP news agency.


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Aerial images show how the mud engulfed residential areas

Rescue services said 17 neighbourhoods had been affected and Mr Castro said his own house had also been destroyed. "The mud is up to the roof," he told Caracol radio. The region, bordering Ecuador and Peru, is heavily dependent on agriculture and the petroleum industry. While landslides and heavy rains are common in the mountainous area, March was Colombia's rainiest month since 2011, according to the state meteorological agency. In neighbouring Peru, more than 90 people have died since the start of the year because of unusually heavy rainfall, which also caused landslides and flash floods.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39468575

waltky
04-02-2017, 02:33 PM
Death and destruction in wake of Colombia landslide...
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Colombia landslide: Rescue teams race to reach survivors
Sun, 02 Apr 2017 - Rescuers dig through debris hunting for survivors after mudslides left more than 200 people dead.


Rescuers are digging through mud and debris in the hunt for those missing after devastating mudslides in Colombia left more than 200 dead. More than 1,000 soldiers and police are involved in the relief effort in Putumayo province. Heavy rain flooded the town of Mocoa in the country's south-west, with mud and rocks burying whole neighbourhoods and forcing residents to flee their homes. President Juan Manuel Santos said that 44 of the identified dead are children. "Until we have the last person identified we are not going to stop," said President Santos, who flew to the area on Saturday after the landslide struck. There were at least 400 people injured and 200 missing, the army said.


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Lorries and trucks were thrown into the side of buildings by the force of the water

Video footage from Mocoa showed residents crying over a list of missing children, with their names and aged pinned to a board. "We have lost a baby, who has gone missing," one resident told reporters. "A little baby, we can't find him anywhere." The exact death toll is hard to confirm with the rescue operation still under way. Some local media estimate up to 300 people have been killed, while the Colombian Red Cross has a total hovering above 200. The Red Cross said it was working to help family members contact each other, and the Colombian Air Force has brought supplies. The landslide struck in the early hours of Saturday morning, when many people were asleep in bed.


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Soldiers have been deployed to help local families

Colombia's director of the National Disaster Risk Management Unit told the AFP news agency that a third of the region's expected monthly rain fell during one night. Although rainfall is abundant in the area, this downpour was unusually heavy and caused rivers to burst their banks. The overflow then picked up mud and debris, creating a cascade. Video footage of the aftermath showed currents so strong that abandoned lorries were propelled through the flooded streets. A senior UN official in Colombia, Martin Santiago, blamed climate change, saying it had caused "tremendous results in terms of intensity, frequency and magnitude of these natural effects" in the region.


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Rescue workers searched among the rubble and fallen trees

Others said deforestation has also played a role. "When the basins are deforested, they break down. It is as if we remove the protection for avoiding landslides," said Adriana Soto, a Colombian conservationist and former environment minister. With no running water in Mocoa, one resident told El Tiempo newspaper that they had been collecting rainwater. Power lines are also out across the area. Photos posted to social media by the air force showed some patients being evacuated by air. Local resident Mario Usale, 42, told Reuters he was searching for his father-in-law. "My mother-in-law was also missing, but we found her alive 2km (1.25 miles) away. She has head injuries, but she was conscious," he said.


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The debris totally destroyed many homes and submerged vehicles

Landslides have struck the region several times in recent months. In November, nine people died in the town of El Tambo, about 140km (90 miles) from Mocoa, during a landslide that followed heavy rain. Less than a month before that, another landslide killed several people near Medellin, almost 500km (300 miles) to the north. And in neighbouring Peru, more than 90 people have died since the start of the year because of unusually heavy rainfall, which also caused landslides and flash floods.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39470238

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The Latest: Death toll rises to 207 in Colombia avalanche
Apr 2,`17 -- The Latest on the deadly river overflow in southern Colombia (all times local):


12:15 p.m.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos says that at least 207 people have been killed in a water and mud avalanche in the country's south, but the death toll is changing "every moment." Santos spoke Sunday in his latest update on the tragedy. Authorities say another 200 people including many children were injured and just as many remain unaccounted for amid the destruction in the city of Mocoa. Heavy rains sent floodwaters, mud and debris surging through homes in the city around midnight Friday. That left the streets covered Saturday morning in thick sand, mud and tree limbs from the rivers and forest that surround the community. People are digging through the ruins, salvaging what they can of their possessions and looking for their missing loved ones.

9:40 a.m.

Colombia's Attorney General Nestor Humberto Martinez says his office has launched an investigation to ensure local and national authorities fulfilled their responsibility in taking the necessary corrective and preventative actions in the community affected by a deadly avalanche of water and mud. Martinez says in a statement Sunday that his office has dispatched 45 criminal investigators to the community of Mocoa to help in the identification of victims. The Institute of Legal Medicine also is sending 15 pathologists to the scene to help with identifying the dead and perform autopsies.

9 a.m.

A grim search for the missing has resumed in in southern Colombia after surging rivers sent an avalanche of floodwaters, mud and debris through a small city, killing at least 200 people and leaving many more injured and homeless. People in Mocoa have been prying through piles of rocks and wooden planks that entombed homes. Streets were covered in thick sand, mud and tree limbs from the rivers and rainforest that surround the city. There is little drinking water and no power, which forced authorities to suspend the search and rescue effort during the night. The National Disaster Agency said Sunday that the death toll was at 200, with another 200 injured, but authorities concede it could easily go higher because many people are still unaccounted for.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_COLOMBIA_DEADLY_RIVER_OVERFLOW_THE_LATEST?SITE= AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-04-02-14-10-38

waltky
04-03-2017, 03:56 PM
FARC offers to help with mudslide tragedy...
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Colombian mudslide death toll rises to 254
April 3, 2017 -- At least 254 people died and 400 more were injured in mudslides over the weekend in Colombia, the military said Sunday.


While the whereabouts of many people remain unknown, rescue workers were searching for survivors and transporting them to safety, The New York Times reported.


http://cdnph.upi.com/svc/sv/upi_com/2231491133224/2017/1/a59805ef3b05ed8641db4de6994a4a25/Colombian-mudslide-death-toll-rises-to-254.jpg
Inhabitants clear the wreckage left by a mudslide in Mocoa, Colombia, on Sunday. Rescuers were stepping up efforts to find survivors of the mudslides that killed at least 234 people and injured 202 others in Mocoa, the capital of the southern Colombian province of Putumayo, officials said.[-/center[

"The first thing I want to say is that my heart, our hearts, the hearts of all Colombians are with the victims of this tragedy," Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said as he declared a state of emergency Saturday. "We don't know yet where they are. Many people are coming to us saying, 'My son is missing, my father is missing, my mother is missing.' We are working on putting a list for the total number of people missing."

The mudslides happened with heavy rains caused three rivers around Mocoa, in Putumayo province, swelled and flooded the town with mud, CNN reported. Initial media reports said scores of villagers had been killed after water, mud and debris flooded the city, destroying homes, businesses and the local hospital.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2017/04/02/Colombian-mudslide-death-toll-rises-to-254/2231491133224/?utm_source=sec&utm_campaign=sl&utm_medium=18

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Colombia's FARC rebels offer to help town destroyed by mudslide
April 3, 2017 -- Colombia's FARC rebel group has offered to provide assistance to the devastated town of Mocoa following mudslides but such help requires government approval.


"Amid the tragedy in Mocoa, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia sympathizes and accompanies -- count on us. We are ready to help," the FARC group said in a statement. The FARC rebels are undergoing a transition period established under a peace agreement with the Colombian government to disarm and bring an end to the decades-long conflict between the government and the rebels. At least 254 people died and more than 200 were injured in Mocoa while dozens more residents were missing after the mudslides over the weekend that occurred when heavy rains caused three rivers to swell and flood the capital of the Putumayo department.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos declared a state of emergency to offer assistance as quickly as possible. He vowed that the town will recover and that authorities will accelerate the construction of a new hospital in Mocoa, adding that people in the town would have better access to healthcare than before. "Today we began planning for what will be the reconstruction of Mocoa. We are going to recover and improve the affected homes," Santos said in a statement. "Colombians, I urge that with generosity we lend a hand to our compatriots in the midst of pain and difficulty."

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Inhabitants of the San Miguel neighborhood take a break on Sunday amid the debris and rocks left by a mudslide in Mocoa, Colombia, on Saturday. Search and rescue officials continue efforts on Monday to find survivors

Santos said he allocated more than $400,000 in support of the reconstruction and improvement of companies and business to restore economic activity in Mocoa. He said authorities are prioritizing construction of an aqueduct to provide the city with potable water. Officials have set up four temporary water treatment centers. Colombian authorities set up triage centers to treat those injured. More than half of Colombia's Putumayo department was left without electricity following the recent severe weather, though officials said they are working to restore power.

During a speech on Sunday, Santos said each family who lost a home would receive a monthly rent subsidy of $87. He said he ultimately wants to construct new homes in Mocoa that are less vulnerable to weather-related incidents. It is not clear if Santos would grant FARC's request to help rescue efforts in the afflicted town. More than 220,000 people have died and 5 million have been internally displaced due to the Colombian conflict since the FARC's Marxist-inspired founding in 1964. The militant rebel group has been involved in drug-trafficking, kidnapping and other illicit activity to fund its insurgency.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2017/04/03/Colombias-FARC-rebels-offer-to-help-town-destroyed-by-mudslide/7831491220710/?utm_source=sec&utm_campaign=sl&utm_medium=8

waltky
04-04-2017, 11:25 PM
A muddy nightmare...
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Flood-stricken city in Colombia mourns as death toll climbs
Apr 4,`17 -- Lines of people quietly walked the streets of Mocoa, followed by hearses carrying coffins to a cemetery where open graves waited.


The survivors of the deadly flood that washed through this city in southern Colombia were burying their loved ones Monday after authorities began to release the remains recovered from a disaster that has shaken the country. Colombian authorities said at least 273 people were killed when rivers surrounding Mocoa overflowed and sent a wall of water and debris surging through the city over the weekend. The death toll was expected to rise since many more were missing and bodies are still being found.

Danilo Garzon Garcia, a 22-year-old resident of the city, had spent the previous day searching with other family members for his young sister. They finally found her body at the local hospital, able to recognize her battered remains because of her underwear. "It is better this way, better to know," Garzon said as he walked alongside the car carrying her body to the cemetery. "At least we know where she is." The Colombian Red Cross said it has received 374 requests for help from families unable to locate loved ones, people whose whereabouts were still unknown three days after the disaster. Much of Mocoa was still strewn with rocks, tree limbs, and brown muck. Search and rescue teams continued to probe piles of debris whenever someone heard a possible sound of movement.


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Men carry the coffin of a relative during a mass funeral in Mocoa, Colombia, Monday, April 3, 2017. The grim search continues for the missing in southern Colombia after surging rivers sent an avalanche of floodwaters, mud and debris through the small city, killing more than 260 people and leaving many more injured and homeless

Many in this city of around 40,000 people still seemed in shock from the flood, which poured through the town after a punishing rainfall as people slept late Friday night and early Saturday. "We do not like to create false expectations but where there is a possibility of life we will do everything possible," said Carlos Ivan Marquez, director of Colombia's National Unit of Disaster and Risk Management. Many victims were young like Garzon's 14-year-old sister. "She had gone to sleep at a friend's house. When we got to where the house was we didn't find anyone," he said. As he walked calmly in the funeral procession, his mother sobbed and screamed in grief: "Leidy! What did you leave me? Leidy, my girl." Her son then put his arm around her as they made their way to the cemetery.

President Juan Manuel Santos and other officials pledged emergency relief and said that Mocoa would be rebuilt, including a new water system to replace the one damaged in the flood and new homes for those in the 17 neighborhoods hit hardest by the surging water. He said he had spoken by phone with U.S. President Donald Trump, who promised assistance, as have other nations including China and Venezuela. Santos also declared an "economic, social and ecological emergency," a designation intended to speed reconstruction efforts. "We are not going to stop until everyone affected by this natural disaster receives help," Marquez said.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_COLOMBIA_DEADLY_RIVER_OVERFLOW?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-04-04-08-28-43

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Colombia landslide: A vision of life in mud-covered Mocoa
Tue, 04 Apr 2017 - The BBC's Laura Bicker is in Mocoa, sharing images of the immediate landslide recovery efforts.


Hundreds of people are confirmed to have lost their lives in Saturday's landslide in Colombia. Forty thousand people live in the south-western town of Mocoa that was hit by a torrent of mud and debris. The search for survivors continues, but hopes are fading fast for those still waiting on news about loved ones. The BBC's Laura Bicker has been reporting from the region - sharing images of those affected by the tragedy. The town was devastated by mudslides as water tore through its centre after a night of extremely heavy rain. Neighbourhoods were swept away amongst the rising water levels.


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Cars piled up, surround by debris, caused by the mudslide.

Our correspondent says in a Twitter post: "Mud lies thick on the streets of Mocoa. They're still searching for the missing but with little hope." "Five main rivers flow off these mountains - the rain came with mud and debris tearing through." She described how during a live report for the BBC News at Ten, a small boy tugged at her trousers pleading for help. She explained that while much of the neighbourhood of San Miguel had been wiped out, people still tried to salvage what they could. Some were sitting amongst their mud strewn possessions including a sofa, she added.


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People sit amongst debris and removed possessions. Their legs are drenched with mud and they sit amongst bags and items they have salvaged.

In one image, a man is seen sitting alone amongst debris, with roads and pathways now invisible in amongst the mud. People were still living in the rubble in Mocoa, our correspondent said. She posted one image of a volunteer, who said he had saved hundreds with just a torch for help. He is one of many aiding people who were trapped by the mud.


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A man sits amongst a desolate landscape of abandoned and broken buildings and collapsed road structure.

Colombia's president has declared a state of emergency, committing 40,000m pesos ($13.9m; £11.1m) towards "addressing humanitarian priorities" in the disaster's aftermath. Laura posted an image of Red Cross workers at the scene, who are still continuing their efforts despite the dwindling chances of rescue. She captioned the image: "Over 270 confirmed dead, but they say 374 are still missing."

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39492175