The unseasonably wet rainy season across Colombia, that began early February with mudslides in Antioquia, and one that claimed the lives of 15 persons in Dosquebradas, Risaralda, will continue to impact most of the departments in the Andean and Pacific regions.
More than two months of heavy rainfall has also impacted the coffee harvest in the Coffee Axis (Caldas, Quindío, Risaralda), while departments along the Magdalena and Cauca rivers have reported the overflowing of banks and flooding of farmland.
According to the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD), from March 15 to April 3, 10 persons were killed in weather-related incidents, 5,500 persons affected and 736 homes damaged.
In Cundinamarca, 150 municipalities remain under emergency alert for possible damage to roads and local infrastructure, as millions begin traveling with the start of the Easter holidays. The Colombian coast, La Guajira, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, foothills of the Eastern plains and Orinoco River basin are expected to get 20% more rain over the Easter break compared to the same week last year. A tropical depression is also expected to drop precipitation over the archipelago of San Andrés, Santa Catalina and Providencia.
Colombia’s Institute of Hydrology and Environmental Science – IDEAM – announced that the wettest weeks of 2022’s first rainy season have still to come, but could be expected from mid-April to end of May.
