Public calamity, severe ravages and floods

The passage of tropical storm Iota through Cartagena de Indias has caused a series of emergencies that have the capital of Bolívar on alert and led its authorities to declare a public calamity.

Since the morning of this Saturday, heavy rains have caused flooding and streams in much of the city.

“According to reports that I have been receiving, up to 70% of the city is flooded. From early hours all the teams of all the dependencies of the Mayor’s Office are ready to take action to mitigate the effects”, informed the mayor of Cartagena, William Dau Chamat.

Dau assured that the declaration of public calamity will allow “hiring teams to mitigate the effects, to clean channels, to clear and pump water. In addition, we are already working on obtaining aid from private companies, such as machinery and equipment that can be used for these labors “.

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The monitoring and evaluation of the execution of the plan will be in charge of the Cartagena Planning Secretariat, which will issue the results of this monitoring and evaluation to the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management, Ungrd.

The district mayor also ordered the closure of all the city’s beaches until further notice, as a preventive measure against the passage of the tropical storm.

Through social networks, citizens and authorities have shared images and videos in which the magnitude of the emergency is evident.

“Many families have lost everything”

Flooded homes, landslides, completely collapsed roads, underwater vehicles and fallen poles are some of the images seen in 70% of the city.

The heavy rains began in the early morning hours and surprised the inhabitants of La Heroica, who have tried to rescue some of their belongings, affected by the serious floods.

“The early morning was something very tremendous, horrible. We did not expect the rain to be so intense. Today many families have lost everything,” Alfredo Barrios, a resident of the Olaya Herrera neighborhood, told Noticias Caracol.

According to the authorities’ report, there have been floods in sectors such as Villa Rosa, Olaya, Pasacaballos, Bayunca, Policarpa, Bernardo Jaramillo, Bazurto market, Zenú de Membrillal Indigenous council, Albornoz, Antonio José de Sucre, Puerta de Hierro, Colinas from Villa Barraza, El Socorro, San José de los Campanos, La Princesa, the industrial sector of Mamonal, Petares, El Pozón, Torices, Villa Gloria, Marlinda, Boston, San Francisco, Villa Hermosa and the village of Arroyo de Piedra.

Landslides were also reported in the La Paz sector of the Albornoz neighborhood, in Pablo VI, in Nelson Mandela, Los Deseos sector, in the Las Brisas neighborhood and in the Lomas del Marión sector.

In addition, the Historic Center, Bocagrande and El Campestre were under water.

Attorney questions that the drainage plan was not prioritized

The Attorney General of the Nation, Fernando Carrillo, made a warning about the situation in Cartagena and assured that in March he had met with the local authorities “to give priority to the master plan for storm drains”; however, so far the requested actions have not been carried out.

“SOS Cartagena. The Attorney General’s Office had alerted in March 2020 in a meeting with the mayor and Cgena water manager to prioritize the storm drainage master plan, which is the only comprehensive solution for flooding in the city,” Carrillo wrote via Twitter.

The official attached a copy of a letter sent to the president on November 3 in which he claimed compliance with “the commitments acquired by the District Administration.”