[ad_1]
President Iván Duque confirmed on Monday afternoon that after the devastating passage of Hurricane Iota near the San Andrés archipelago, one person died and there was serious damage to the infrastructure in Providencia.
(We recommend: Ravages of the winds and rains with the passage of Iota through Colombia).
The last communication that had been had on the island was recorded at dawn on Monday, at around 4 in the morning. There were more than 12 hours without information on the situation in the area, the most affected in the archipelago by this category five hurricane, at the same level as Hurricane Matthew, which affected the country in 2016, according to meteorologist Christian Euscátegui.
In that year, said hurricane It left much smaller impacts, damaging some 27 homes in La Guajira, mainly.
Due to its strength, hurricane Iota affected at least 98 percent of the existing infrastructure on the island of Providencia, as revealed last night, from Cartagena, the President, where he arrived with a large part of his government team to install a post forward command.
(Also read: They confirm that there is a 98% deterioration in Providencia’s infrastructure).
The first president revealed that he managed to communicate with the mayor of Providencia, Norberto Gari Hooker, who told him that at the moment they had information about the death of a person due to the emergency. From La Heroica, the president confirmed that the identity of the victim has not been established.
He also highlighted that the mayor of Providencia and his team were doing an obstruction removal on some of the main roads. “We are working to be able to clean the runway at El Embrujo airport so that, once the weather conditions allow us, we can get there.”
Duque said that the message he transmitted to the mayor is that “we are at his side and we are at the side of the entire Providencia community and we will be as the National Government until we recover all the infrastructure in the shortest possible time.” On the other hand, the Government of San Andrés pointed out that they remain on high alert due to the incalculable damage left during their advance through the Caribbean towards Central America.
In the morning hours of this Monday, the General Maritime Directorate (Dimar), as head of the National Meteorological Service, attached to the Cioh Caribe, reported that the hurricane had strengthened with winds of more than 200 kilometers per hour.
(We recommend: The shocking videos of the passage of Hurricane Iota through San Andrés).
The Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (Ideam) recommended “extreme measures.” Iota is heading at a speed of 15 kilometers per hour towards Honduras and Nicaragua, areas already devastated by cyclone Eta two weeks ago.
According to data from the United States National Hurricane Center, the eye of the hurricane was located about 30 kilometers from Providencia. Hence the strong impact it had on this island.
In addition to suspending activity on beaches, official agencies announced the closure of the airport that serves Providencia and a curfew for hours in San Andrés, the largest in the archipelago, which has been in force since last Saturday.
The inhabitants of San Andrés woke up this Monday without power and with the roads closed as a result of the fall of trees. Inhabitants of the archipelago said that mobility is impossible and that the strong winds registered since the early hours of this Monday have caused damage to homes.
(In photos: the damage in San Andrés by hurricane Iota).
René Durán, condo manager, ensures that the waves come and go to the street of his house, located at kilometer 4 of the island. “My house is located on the ring road, at about three meters I have the sea and the waves reach the road René recounted. There are fallen trees. People cannot move and the firefighters cannot cope because there are many logs blocking the road ”.
This administrator points out that the security windows that many of his neighbors have installed in their apartments were broken due to the strong winds.
“The rain has seeped into the eight floors of this unit,” says René. There is water on the floor and as we do not have energy, we fear that when we return it could cause a short ”.
Trader Edwin Neira said the winds have been so strong that he has witnessed many vessels sink.
Meanwhile, from the San Andrés Fire Department they assured that Due to the amount of trees in the streets, the mobility of the lifeguards was difficult, Therefore, they recommended to the community, which suffered the detachment of its roofs, to go to the house of its neighbors.
(The also: ‘There can be a very big impact on Providencia,’ Duque said).
Among the emergencies registered, the National Navy reported a 67-year-old foreigner who was rescued in San Andrés. The man, an Italian national, was on a sailboat in the Los Almendros sector when strong winds, which have exceeded 200 kilometers per hour, dragged him out to sea.
Given the alert from the community, the San Andrés y Providencia Coast Guard Rapid Reaction Unit began the search for the sailboat in the midst of high-risk conditions.
(You may be interested: The “catastrophic” Category 5 hurricane Iota closer to Nicaragua).
People who took refuge in shelters to face the emergency also reported serious damage at these points. “We have been locked in the houses since Sunday at 3 in the afternoon and incommunicado with my family in Providencia since 3:11 in the morning. Only satellite phones are working well and some calls have come in from the hospital, but we don’t know what happens there ”.
Initially, one of the reports that the Ombudsman received from San Andrés, through its regional office, calculated the location of the eye of the hurricane at a closer distance.
“There are several fallen poles, a large part of the island is flooded and we know that some shelters were affected in Providencia. The hardest moment was at 7 in the morning on Monday, but the emergency continues. And the biggest concern is for Providencia: the eye of the hurricane passed at 10 miles, with winds of 250 kilometers. They say that the island is very affected ”, add sections of the report. This according to one of the initial reports of the Ombudsman’s Office, which calculated the eye of the hurricane at a closer distance from Providencia.
There were floods in several streets of San Andrés.
Ronny Suarez. TIME
It is known that several of the roofs of the shelters in churches and schools were detached by the force of the winds.
In turn, the Minister of Transport, Ángela María Orozco, pointed out that they are awaiting the passage of the hurricane to calculate the losses and be able to attend to the victims.
“The first thing before a fact of nature, such as this one, is to try to have all the measures, in coordination with the other State entities that are in charge of different issues, to protect the lives of the people of Providencia and react immediately as soon as everything passes, look at what happened, what were the effects and how the strategic infrastructure serves, precisely to deliver aid once this situation passes, “said Orozco.
TIME@ColombiaET
* Nation and Politics Editorial Office, with information from El Isleño.
[ad_2]
