Painful reconstruction: this was the last hours of Rogino Livingston, the hero who died in Providencia after Hurricane Iota

The eye of Hurricane Iota was above a small Colombian island of just 5,000 inhabitants. With houses that were mostly made of wood and cans, the inhabitants of Providencia were miraculously spared by the force of winds that exceeded 200 km per hour at dawn on Monday, November 16.

For hours the tourist island was cut off, nothing was known, neither of its people nor of the disaster that the natural phenomenon left and which hours later would be the front page of the main Colombian media. Iota devastated every building in Providencia but to the surprise of many, the death toll was one man, Rogino Livingston. He was not the only mortal victim of Iota, Vicent Archibold also died but on the island of Santa Catalina.

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In Semana Magazine, Rogino’s wife told what happened in the last hours of the life of this man who faced the hurricane capable of knocking down buildings in order to protect his family.

“He was very special, I can’t explain it. He was someone who cannot be described because he was noble, attentive. Superdad, super grandfather and super son “Judith Mc’lean told the news outlet.

In the midst of the desperation to escape the strong winds that were slowly knocking down this family’s house, Livingston decided that the best they could do to survive was to go to the shelter that had been established in Providencia hours before the storm began.But he changed his mind and told his family that it was best to take shelter in the church.

This man’s family told Semana that once the water began to drop and the winds were weakening, an uncle looked out and saw yellow boots under the rubble.

“Sasha, one of Rogino’s daughters, started screaming because she knew they were the color her father wore. The body of the 47-year-old man, known in the Casa Baja sector as Fuentes or Puerto Pipí, was left under one of the walls of the church ”, the magazine detailed.

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In the interview, Rogino’s widow said that he did not want to go to work that day and preferred to help prepare for Iota’s arrival. “He said he was going to take care of the family and he did. He took care of everyone who was in the shelter (…) He transferred everyone from the house to the shelter. He saved everyone’s life and he couldn’t save his life because they said he was returned for a suitcase, and that’s when it happened, he lost his life”Said the woman.

That Monday afternoon when Judith was trying to get to what was left of her house, she found the sad scene of her daughter crying over the death of her father. “That’s when I knew what had happened”, he told Semana.

“It doesn’t fit in my head”: inhabitants of Providencia denounce looting of houses

In addition to the disaster left by Hurricane Iota last weekend, with almost the entire island of Providencia destroyed and with millions in losses that led the Colombian Government to declare an emergency situation, some residents and survivors have denounced another drama: robberies of what what remains of the houses.

According to the testimony of Diego Flórez, a resident of Providencia, who collected Noticias Caracol, many like him have had to stay awake for several nights to avoid being looted. The islanders even complained that many people in Providencia criticized the residents of Tasajera, Magdalena, where a truck with gasoline overturned and then exploded while some residents of the sector stole gasoline. They consider it incredible that the same thing happened on the island. “It doesn’t fit in my head, people taking refrigerators, televisions, air conditioners, for what? if this is a disaster ”, adding that nothing was left standing.