Heavy rains resulting in floods and landslides have cost the lives of 70 Colombians since March, Interior and Justice Minister German Vargas Lleras said Thursday.
Vargas Lleras reported in late August that the rainy season has left 70 people dead and 145 injured in Colombia so far this year.
The homes and crops of some 700,000 Colombians have been damaged or destroyed, the minister added.
The heavy rains have caused emergency situations in 27 of the country’s 32 departments since the beginning of this year’s exceptionally long rainy season.
Most affected are Colombia’s Caribbean coast and the southern high-altitude regions.
According to Vargas Lleras, “the National Disaster Prevention and Attention System to date has reported 669,584 victims of the rains in 386 municipalities of the country.”
The minister warned the residents of mountainous regions in the south and the Caribbean coast in the north of even heavier rain damage, as more rain is expected to fall and the country’s main rivers are already at a high level.
Heavy rains during the rainy season kill dozens and displace hundreds in Colombia every year.
