AMERICA/COLOMBIA - One and a half million people affected and over 167 deaths due to the rains; the Church calls for solidarity

Bogota (Agenzia Fides) - The National Secretariat for Social Pastoral Care (SNPS/Caritas Colombia) has appealed for solidarity with the thousands of families affected by heavy rains in Colombia, now estimated to be more than one million people. The Archbishop of Bogota, Archbishop Rubén Salazar Gómez Jesús, said that SNPS/Caritas Colombia has responded to requests for emergency assistance, managing to reach approximately 2,250 families, or about 11,300 people. They were assisted with food and provisions, health care, clothing, and items necessary for personal hygiene, among other things.
According to experts, heavy rains are the result of the El Niño phenomenon, which affects 80 percent of Colombian territory, making its effect felt more by families living in poverty. Official sources indicate that of the 1,120 municipalities in the country, 553 were affected and more than 1,600 homes were destroyed directly by the rains or landslides that occurred.
A report from the Directorate of Risk Management for the Ministry of Interior and Justice has stated that those affected by the torrential rains are 1,503,730. The death toll stands at 167, with 225 wounded and 19 missing. In recent days the president of the National Federation of Farmers, José Félix Lafaurie, had reported that 40,000 cattle were drowned by the floods. The rains that plague the Colombian territory since January have flooded 160,000 hectares of land used for crops. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 03/12/2010)