Venezuela/Columbia floods claim at least 58

[tropicana]

Thu February 10 2005 at 08:07AM

Caracas - Floods and mudslides killed eight more people in Venezuela on Wednesday as torrential rains battered the coastline of the South American country for the third day.
Authorities said unseasonal rains had killed at least 14 people in Caracas and surrounding states and forced the government to deploy Navy coast guard boats to evacuate hundreds of families trapped by landslides on coastal roads.

The country's oil production and exports were not affected, the Oil Ministry said. Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, is a top crude supplier to the United States.

In Puerto Cabello in western Carabobo state, a mother and five children were buried when a mudslide swept away their home, the state news agency reported.
Local radio reported about 120 corpses were exposed when floodwaters devastated one of the main cemeteries in Caracas. Muddy waters surged through brick and tin shanty homes on the hillsides surrounding the capital.

Authorities worked to clear some roads into Caracas and in other states.
Five years ago, tens of thousands of people were killed when massive mudslides destroyed towns and villages along Venezuela's coastal Vargas state near the capital.
-justin-

[tropicana]

Just found this over the internet too, with a view of the situation from a layman's perspective..
seems quite serious....

QUOTE:-
I am OK, tried to make a post, maybe PC at home is off. Here is the post: The news in Caracas is being dominated by the heavy rains that have been falling in the last forty eight hours. In the last day Caracas registered 3.33 inches of rain, a historical record for the city for any twenty four hour period. Several people have died in Caracas, while thousands of vacationers that went to the beach near Caracas for the long Carnival weekend are stranded. There are a number of problems there. First, the highways were already in bad shape as they have never recovered from the tragedy in 2000 when mores than 40,000 people were estimated to have died when many days of rain made rocks and mud come down from the mountains and destroyed buildings and roads. This time, it is more flash flooding from heavy rains than the softening of the mountains near by, although one can not rule out a repeat if the rains continue. A second problem is the traffic from vacationers who did not realize what was happening. Some people (my brother) are trapped between two overflowed rivers. Others have been hours in traffic coming up from sea level to Caracas which is 3,000 feet (1,000 meters) above sea level. The highway is reportedly full of dirt, little rocks and mud which makes progress very slow. There are a few landslides along its length (about ten miles from the airport to Caracas) In Caracas, the Guaire river which cuts right through it lengthwise has overflowed in various parts. The subway system is not working and classes have been suspended for tomorrow. I am not in Caracas and had planned to return tomorrow but I guess I will have to wait and see, play it by ear. As I said my brother is trapped in the coastal region in his car with his family between two rivers and my mother and another sister are further beyond but they are in a high building just waiting it out.

[cycloneye]

LA GUAIRA, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela sent military helicopters and patrol boats Thursday to evacuate thousands of people stranded by floodwaters as torrential rains persisted for a third day, threatening to worsen a disaster that has killed at least 14 and left thousands homeless.

Military helicopters landed at the international airport in La Guaira bringing hungry and shivering victims rescued along the Caribbean coast. Some covered themselves with wet blankets, while others carried babies.

Tears ran down the face of Mirna Garcia, 36, as she gazed through a chain link fence at the airport waiting for a helicopter to appear with her father and husband, who she feared were trapped in a house in the coastal town of Naiguata.

"I know the authorities are doing what they can to look for them and get them out of there, but I'm afraid for what could have happened to them," said Garcia, who made it out with her three children.

About 3,000 people had been rescued from parts of the mountainous coast in Vargas state, President Hugo Chavez said as he visited the area, urging people to "treat the crisis with calm, with wisdom."

"We are prepared to face a situation like this," Chavez said.

Twelve military helicopters and 13 patrol boats were helping evacuate people from areas isolated by floodwaters, Defense Minister Gen. Jorge Garcia Carneiro said. "There still is a great deal of danger there," he said.

Five years ago, the same coastal state of Vargas was struck by catastrophic floods and mudslides that left between 6,000 and 10,000 dead, according to government estimates.

Chavez said this time "a lot more rain has fallen" but he said rescue efforts have been working.

Officials said thousands of people remained stranded along the coast in spots cut off by overflowing rivers.

While officials were still surveying the damage, about 3,700 people have had their homes destroyed in the floods since Tuesday, a high-ranking emergency official said on condition of anonymity.

Some victims moved into emergency shelters, while others took refuge with family or friends.

Waterfalls formed on low points along the coastal highway, making many areas impassible.

"The river grew so much and it kept raining," said Jose Castillo, 36, who was flown out of Naiguata by helicopter with his wife and stepdaughter.

Another man with a broken leg was brought off a helicopter on a stretcher.

The death toll rose to 14 Thursday as regional emergency official Francisco Trejo told the Venezuelan TV channel Globovision that a ninth person was killed in the flooding in the north-central state of Carabobo.

Five other deaths were reported elsewhere in landslides and flooding, including three in the capital of Caracas.

The government declared a state of emergency in Caracas and six states on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, officials said the rains were forecast to clear up and gradually move eastward. But by Thursday the forecast called for the rains to last at least until the weekend.

Chavez said that the heavy rains, unusual this time of year, were due to global warming.

"This is the result of those ecological problems of the world, that rich countries don't want to hear, of global warming," Chavez said.




Here is the latest information.

[tropicana]

Dozens dead in Venezuela and Colombia floods
SAT FEB 12th 2005

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Rescue workers are struggling to reach remote villages in
Venezuela's Andean mountains cut off by torrential rains and landslides that have killed more than
40 people in nearly a week.

In neighbouring Colombia, heavy rains triggered flooding and mudslides that killed at least 18
people and forced 22,000 more from their homes in the northeastern part of the country, officials
said on Saturday.

Venezuelan authorities said they had found at least 25 bodies in Santa Cruz de Mora in Merida
state and feared many more were dead after rains flooded rivers and sent scores of mudslides
tumbling onto homes, roads and bridges.

Authorities and witnesses said several buses at a terminal in Merida were swept away by flood
waters. Local television showed battered homes and cars covered with mud and debris.

Military helicopters and navy vessels this week evacuated more than 15,000 stranded tourists and
residents from the coastal states near Caracas after mudslides and swollen rivers destroyed roads
and shanty homes in poor neighbourhoods.

At least 18 people died in flooding and land slips in Caracas and neighbouring areas. The
weather cleared up along the coast on Saturday, but heavy rains lashed Tachira and Merida states in
the western mountains near Colombia.

President Hugo Chavez, touring a camp for people left homeless by floods, said earlier one child
was washed away in Tachira and seven bodies had been recovered in Merida state.

Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter and a key crude supplier to the United States, says
the storms and floods have not affected its oil production or shipments.

-justin-