President of Colombia declares three departments of his country an emergency due to floods

Published at: 10/11/2024 08:36 PM

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, declared this Sunday afternoon a national disaster situation to address natural emergencies, in connection with the rainy season that affects much of Colombia, mainly in regions of Chocó, La Guajira and Bogotá, where efforts will be focused.

According to information from Venezolana de Televisión, she explained that she canceled her trip to Azerbaijan, where COP29 will take place and led a Unified Command Post (PMU) at the headquarters of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD), in which the declaration of disaster was determined, allowing resources to be moved more easily to address emergencies generated in the nation.

“The country has already been through two years of different climatic situations. For this reason, because of what is happening these days, a disaster situation is declared throughout the country due to climate variability that generates unpredictable and unusual impacts, increasing vulnerability in the territories. This vulnerability has been aggravated by impacts that have to do with deforestation, illegal economies and in the case of Bogotá, in my opinion, by an unbridled urbanization of the savanna,” he said.

He noted that the declaration of emergency will be focused on the entire national territory, but efforts will be prioritized in Alta Guajira, Chocó and Bogotá, the latter due to the scarcity of drinking water, which has households with 24-hour rationing every nine days.

Mazo News Team