Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Columbian floods and landslides

Several villages in Columbia have been hit by flooding and landslides as a result of heavy rainfall. Floods have destroyed a number of homes. Flooding is exacerbated by sediment accumulation in rivers causing narrowing of the channel. Localised rain-induced mudslides have also left around 8 people, mainly children, dead.

Every year dozens of lives are lost as a direct result of the heavy annual rainfall. The poor, living in makeshift accommodation on steep hillslides, are most at risk.