The intense rains battering Colombia’s Antioquia department have unleashed a wave of emergencies, leaving hundreds of people affected and causing widespread damage to road infrastructure. The situation has led authorities to declare a red alert in 72 of the department’s 125 municipalities, while another 10 remain under orange alert.
The Aburrá Valley, which includes Medellín, Itagüí, Sabaneta, and La Estrella, has been particularly impacted by the rainfall.
Attention is focused especially on riverine municipalities along the Río Cauca and other major tributaries. “All the riverine municipalities lie along the Cauca,” authorities noted, stressing the importance of maintaining constant vigilance in these high-risk areas.
Medellín Reports Over 1,000 Emergencies this month
The rainy season has left more than 520 families affected in Medellín and 8,000 across Antioquia. Currently, 87 municipalities in the department are under some level of disaster alert, and the rains are expected to continue throughout May.
In the past month alone, over 1,000 emergencies have been recorded in nine districts and rural townships of Medellín, due to intense downpours that have worsened over the past week. The severity of the situation has forced firefighters to respond to imminent housing collapses, overflowing streams, and even searches for missing persons. While it rains in the capital, the rest of the department remains soaked: Antioquia has 87 municipalities on red or orange alert due to persistent precipitation.
According to the Department of Disaster Risk Management (DAGRD), Medellín has registered 1,031 rain-related emergencies during the most recent season: 81 floods, 207 landslides, 631 total or partial tree collapses, and 112 structural damages to homes. With water accumulating on hillsides, authorities have reiterated warnings to communities to avoid land leveling and construction activities that could destabilize terrain and trigger tragedies.
Such was the case for two elderly residents of the Blanquizal neighborhood, in Commune 13 (San Javier), who narrowly escaped harm when a boulder broke loose from a rain-soaked mountain and crashed into the house they had lived in for years. The landslide was caused by saturated soil weakened by accumulated water, which eventually gave way under pressure.
The two residents survived by a miracle, having escaped the property just before the massive rock — nearly as tall as the house — struck it. In total, 23 people have been injured in these emergencies and received treatment at healthcare facilities. Many have since recovered; this figure does not include those treated on-site for minor injuries like bruises or cuts.
The department’s healthcare system is once again under strain. The San Vicente Fundación hospital in Medellín declared a state of emergency after its emergency ward reached 280% capacity. Nine other hospitals in Antioquia also reported exceeding their maximum operational limits.
According to El Colombiano, the rains have also begun to impact the region’s coffee production. Coffee harvest volume dropped by 5% in April. Still, the heavy rains linked to the La Niña weather phenomenon have not derailed Colombia’s broader coffee success, which remains optimistic going into 2025. As of April, national coffee production has grown by 27% so far this year. However, the general manager of the National Federation of Coffee Growers (FNC), Germán Bahamón, expressed concern over the ongoing intense rainfall caused by La Niña.
