Colombia Landslide

April 2, 2017

In Mocoa, the capital of Putumayo, Colombia, search and rescue frantically searched for missing people after
the sudden landslide on a Sunday morning inundating homes and cars. The president of Colombia came to
survey the damage, and officials had counted that 254 people had perished and hundreds were injured and many
are still missing.

Location of landslide in Colombia

Colombia is near the inter-tropical convergence zone, with heavy rains most part of the year, however climate
change, heavy rainfall and deforestation are also to blame for this tragedy. Mocoa received almost half of a
months worth of rain in one night, causing a massive landslide of the towns 40,000 residents with little
warning. Most people were sleeping in the morning when the rushing waters of its rivers converged on the
capital of Putumayo province. About 600 survivors stayed in makeshift shelters with no electricity, gas,
telephone service, and with little food and clean water. It could take weeks to restore utilities, and the residents
were on high alert for any rainfall that could cause another mudslide.

Mocoa landslide
Survivors believe that the government should have been better prepared for the disaster, despite there being
more than 1,000 emergency responders. Residents believe that Mocoa should have been better prepared due to
its vulnerable position. Government agencies, land use experts and environmentalists had warned for years that
the town had been at risk of dangerous flooding. Even though the townspeople knew of the risks and
vulnerability of their homes being near steep, forested mountains and close to where rivers join, the risk was
increased when the trees were cut down for cattle ranching, and agriculture. Officials are questioning if the
mayor of Mocoa handled the crisis appropriately.

Mocoas neighborhood
The president Juan Manuel Santos has promised to rebuild Mocoa better than before and experts are pleading
for better land use policies designed for preventing deforestation which is the best natural protection from
flooding. A flyover of one of the Mocoas area was conducted by the minister of environment and sustainable
development, Mr. Murillo. He apologized for this tragedy and announced there would be an initiative to
environmentally recover the upper part of the Putumayo River Basin. Part of the Mocoas neighborhood that
was a conservation area was saved, confirming that a natural ecosystem can prevent or minimize landslides. An
initiative to work on the recovery and restoration is to reforest the upper and middle river basin. Critical areas
and risk zones for action have been identified, and pipelines and hydraulics will be placed at critical areas to
reuse rainwater.

Debris pile from landslide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjECmDu5Erc

Rainfall

Location
Population