Video: floods and emergencies due to the heavy downpour in Quipama (Boyacá)

On Monday night, heavy rains hit several municipalities in western Boyacá, where the municipality of Quipama was one of the most affected, with flooded houses and roads paralyzed by the amount of water flowing down the streets.

In the local media and on social networks, they published some videos in which citizens captured how some citizens had to leave their homes around midnight in the face of the emergency.

According to information released by Noti Publique, a local media outlet in Chiquinquirá on Facebook, the currents of the rains dragged motorcycles that were parked in various parts of the urban area of the municipality.

While in La Independencia, another local news report, they pointed out that the streets had practically turned into rivers and that emergency agencies were on high alert for emergencies that might occur in this area, although they had not reported fatalities or people injured by the heavy downpour.

A year ago, in that emerald municipality they had to declare public calamity following the heavy rains that affected the crops of the inhabitants and which caused 50 landslides on their access roads. On that occasion, 70 families were affected, who had to be placed in temporary shelters, as reported on the Caracol Radio station.

Just last week, the ombudsman, Carlos Camargo, called for efforts to be redoubled in the face of the intensification of the rainy season that Colombia has had, due to the phenomenon of la niña that has been reported in the last month.

So far in 2022, there have been 386 winter emergencies in 280 municipalities in 21 departments. Of these, 210 were mass movements, 76 floods and 31 sudden increases. Approximately 30,000 people have been affected; 48 have been reported dead, 61 have been injured and 3 are missing, reports UNGRD. The most affected departments: Cundinamarca, Antioquia, Cauca, Huila, Tolima, Chocó, Risaralda, Valle and Santander.

The official who visited the municipality of San Carlos, Antioquia, said: “The emergency in San Carlos, like those that occurred in recent weeks in other regions of the country, are an example of the emergencies that could arise, according to the warnings issued by the National Disaster Risk Management System, in which reveals the possibility of an increase in rainfall that may reach historical levels”. In addition, he added that in this municipality 250 families were affected by the growing San Carlos River.

The Ombudsman asked the mayors to spare no effort to take the necessary measures to prevent situations that threaten the life, health, housing, economy and mobility throughout the territory of communities. Also, do not forget to carry out the monitoring to prevent other eventualities.

The red alert for emergencies is present in 10 departments, mainly because it seems that the rains will not stop. According to the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM), downpours will be present during the holiday weekend, in San José, “throughout the Pacific region, broad sectors of the Amazon and Andean regions, as well as specific sectors of the central and southern Caribbean region, and eastern Orinoquia”.

In Bogotá and La Sabana on the mornings of Saturday 19, Sunday 20 and Monday 21; dry weather will predominate, but with partly cloudy skies. Although light and moderate rains are expected in focused points of the country's capital.

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