Peru’s President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski stressed the importance of developing a global warming prevention policy to combat devastating emergencies resulting from natural disasters. These situations are battering not only Peru, but neighboring countries like Colombia. “It
is part of a global phenomenon. We have received bad news from
Colombia, and there are droughts in other parts of the world. This is
due to global warming, and this is not going to change. Then, as a
country, we need to have a policy to address climate change,” he
commented. The Peruvian leader expressed his
full support and deep solidarity to the people of Colombia over the
deaths caused by a heavy rain-triggered landslide in Putumayo province. After
receiving the latest climate condition and victim assistance report by
National Emergency Operations Center (COEN), the Peruvian leader said
his government “will keep on working as one force” to cope with the
emergency caused by torrential rains. He went
on to extend his gratitude to Armed Forces, National Police, Fire
Department and EsSalud staff for the aid they provide to disaster-hit
regions. “Around 4,000 officers are helping
Piura through this emergency,” said the 78-year-old statesman, who was
joined by Prime Minister Fernando Zavala and Health Minister Patricia
Garcia. (END) JCB/SMA/RMB
Published: 4/1/2017 Source: andina.com.pe More than 200 dead, many missing in Colombia mudslidesBy Angela Dewan, Jennifer Deaton and Mariano Castillo, CNN Updated 1821 GMT (0221 HKT) April 2, 2017(CNN)Rescuers in southern Colombia were scrambling Sunday to reach more than 100 people who are missing after devastating mudslides tore through entire communities. Hundreds are
reported dead after torrential rains Friday night caused three rivers
surrounding Mocoa, in Putumayo province, to overflow -- sending a
torrent of mud surging through the city.  Rescuers search for more victims under the debris in Mocoa. Reports
of the exact number of those killed in the rugged, remote area vary.
The Colombian military said at least 254 are dead and around 400 more
injured. The Red Cross reports 234 deaths and said that 158 people were
missing. President Juan Manuel
Santos has declared a state of emergency. Santos put the death toll at
207 but told reporters at the scene that the number could climb. "The
first thing I want to say is that my heart, our hearts, the hearts of
all Colombians are with the victims of this tragedy," he said. Santos said 43 children are among those killed, with 22 more hospitalized. He added that many children can't find their parents. "There
are still many missing people. We don't know where they are. That's why
the system is still trying to locate them and will continue to do so
until we find the last person." Earlier Santos said, "Many people are coming to us saying, 'My son is missing, my father is missing, my mother is missing." CNN Map He
said that the city had experienced in one night around a third of the
rainfall that it should receive over the span of a month, blaming the
disaster on climate change. Heavy
rains, high levels of deforestation, informal housing and dense human
populations are some factors that can leave communities vulnerable to
landslides, scientists say. Aerial footage of the site showed some rooftops poking above the muddy deluge that flattened other homes, bridges and highways.  Soldiers evacuating a victim after the mudslide hit Mocoa on Friday night. Power and water supplies to Mocoa have been cut by the disaster, and the hospital system has shut down, firefighters say. Images showed cars and buses trapped in several feet of mud. Gabriel
Umaña, a spokesman for the Colombian Red Cross, told CNN that 300
families had been displaced and more than two dozen homes had been
flattened. Many were sound asleep
when the river of mud hit their neighborhoods, and witnesses said the
sludge flowed so fast that they had to run for their lives.  Many people searched through the debris for their possessions after the mudslide destroyed their homes. "Around
11, 12 o'clock (on Friday), there was a huge storm, a lot of water. I
got up because it sounded so heavy, the sound of the rocks. Everyone
(was shocked)," one man at the site said, Reuters reported. Another wearing yellow rubber boots stood on some rocks as a river of mud streamed by. "Nobody
has given me news. Nobody, nobody. No one from my house or my family. I
am at the will of my God. I have nothing. Nothing to eat, nowhere to
sleep. These clothes were given to me," he said.  Soldiers retrieve bodies from the mudslide site. Residents
congregated outside a family welfare center pored over a list of
missing people. One listed only children, some as young as 2. "We
have lost a baby, who has gone missing, and the rest is as you can see.
A little baby, we can't find him anywhere," said one woman, wiping away
tears. President Santos
personally comforted Marcelo Garreta, who said he could see dead bodies
being carried away by floodwaters but was powerless to help. "We
couldn't help anybody, because if we tried we would've been washed away
as well. I saw light poles washed away by the floodwaters. This is a
great tragedy," Garreta said. Simón Uribe, a filmmaker living in the area, told CNN the mudslide wreaked havoc on Mocoa's "many irregular settlements." "Mocoa
is an a very mountainous region surrounded by rivers," Uribe said. "We
were staying at a house near one of those rivers and, in a matter of
minutes, we started to see cars being washed away, motorcycles and
chunks of houses."  General
view of damages caused by mudslides following heavy rains in Mocoa,
Putumayo department, southern Colombia on April 2, 2017. Uribe
and those in the house with him retreated to the second floor as
floodwaters rushed in, but they were eventually forced to evacuate. "It
was chaos with people running in all different directions, trying to
get out of their houses and climbing on top of roofs. We were in that
critical situation for about two hours." When he returned to the house, Uribe said, "a good portion of it was destroyed and mud was about 1.5 meters high."  A
fireman searches for victims inside a muddy house, following mudslides
caused by heavy rains in Mocoa, Putumayo department, southern Colombia
on April 2, 2017. Mocoa resident Leandro Delgado told CNN that floodwaters swept away huge trees just before midnight. "Those
neighborhoods located uphill are the hardest hit.This is complete
catastrophe," Delgado said. "People would run. They were desperate. They
started pulling bodies around three in the morning from those mounds of
mud there." Some appear to have escaped with only their lives. "I was left with nothing, but my two children," Lourdes Gutiérrez told CNN. "Everything is truly finished." More
than 1,000 soldiers and national police officers are involved in the
ongoing rescue effort, and they are facing enormous challenges. "The
difficulties we are facing are that it is still raining in the region
and the (mudslide) turned up a considerable amount of land. There are
mobility issues on almost 80% of the roads, and where the road ends, it
is three hours to the place where the (mudslide) took place," a police
spokesman told reporters. Photos released by Colombia's military showed rescuers carrying old women and children over downed, mud-caked trees and homes. President Santos said emergency officials are also bringing water tanks and purification plants to Mocoa. Colombia is no stranger to mudslides. In 2015, torrential rains in northwest Colombia caused a mudslide that killed more than 80 people. CNNE's Fernando Ramos in Colombia and Rafael Romo and Matt Rehbein in Atlanta contributed to this report |