They declare public calamity in Cartagena: Iota has so far left 155,000 victims

The impact of Storm Iota on towns like Cartagena, in the Colombian Caribbean, was literally disastrous. According to the balance delivered on the night of Saturday, November 14, by the mayor of the capital of Bolívar, William Dau Chamat, about 155,000 residents were affected by the downpours that flooded 70 percent of the city.

The water, which in some places reached up to the neck of the inhabitants of the ‘heroica’, directly affected 31,550 families. According to Mayor Dau, 33 neighborhoods were flooded, 22 schools were affected and there were dozens of fallen trees. There were also 14 landslides in the city and, in rural areas, there were losses of between 50 and 100 hectares of crops.

What worries William Dau and the people of Cartagena the most, in addition to the damage caused by Iota, are the heavy rains that could aggravate the situation. “It would be a human tragedy,” said the mayor.

The Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (Ideam) foresees that the storm will become a hurricane between the night of November 15 and the early morning of November 16, a fact that would especially affect the islands of San Andrés and Providencia, but also the capital of Bolívar and the northern departments of the country; even those in the central region.

Due to the passage of Iota in the Caribbean, Mayor Dau declared the city in public calamity, which is why it will be able to hire specialized teams for risk mitigation and will have the direct support of the National Government, which, as announced by President Iván Duke, It will deploy units of the Public Force to support the victims.

“From the early hours, all the teams in all the Mayor’s offices are ready to take action to mitigate the effects. Today we will be decreeing a calamity due to heavy rains and with that we can immediately hire teams to mitigate the effects “Dau said on the morning of November 14, prior to the signing of the decree.

Among the emergency measures, the establishment of not one, but three Unified Command Posts stands out, as well as the adaptation of the Fighting Coliseum as a temporary shelter for the victims.

Before the emergency, William Dau requested the collaboration in money to attend the needs of the victims in a Savings account of Banco de Occidente 830-12551-4, in the name of the Tourist and Cultural District of Cartagena de Indias.