Half Colombias municipality at elevated risk of avalanches
Half Colombia’s municipality at elevated risk of avalanches
written by Adriaan Alsema April 3, 2017
More than 180 of Colombia’s approximately 1,000 municipalities are either on orange or red alert for avalanches like the one that partially destroyed the southern town of Mocoa.
Including municipalities on yellow alert, half the country’s municipalities are considered at some elevated risk of mudslides or collapsing mountainsides, the director of Colombia’s meteorological institute IDEAM, Omar Franco, told press on Sunday.
This year’s first rainy season in Colombia coincides with “La Niña,” a Pacific weather phenomenon that causes increased rainfall in South America’s northern Andean region.
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According to Franco, the regions at the highest risk of natural disasters as a consequence of the excessive rains are located in Colombia’s Andean regions in the southwest and center of the country.
More:
http://colombiareports.com/half-colombias-municipality-risk-avalanches/
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written by Stephen Gill April 3, 2017
Colombia’s southern city of Mocoa was warned nine months ago about the potential threat of avalanches in its disaster-struck areas, but took no action, reported Semana magazine.
Mocoa, along with several other Amazonian municipalities were informed of “inadequate settlements” in areas close potentially dangerous rivers of mountainsides, claimed Luis Mejia, director of the Corpoamazonia, the regional environmental authority.
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In addition to poor urban planning regarding construction close to the rivers, Mantilla also pointed the finger to deforestation in the area citing it as a crucial factor highlighting that Putumayo has the fifth highest deforestation rate in the country. Some 9,000 hectares having been deforested since 2015, Mantilla said.
“We have deforested the rounds of water and the surrounding human settlements. It is urgent to restore these areas,” said Mantilla.
More:
http://colombiareports.com/authorities-colombias-mocoa-warned-9-months-ago-disaster-threat/
