Storms and heavy rains to impact Colombia until December

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Bright morning skies over Bogotá forebode electrical storms and flash floods during October and November alerted Colombia’s institute of hydrology and meteorology IDEAM. The onset of the rainy season has already caused parts of the Magdalena River to overflow in the coastal departments of Atlántico and Bolivar, and mudslides in the department of Antioquia have forced sporadic road closures, including the much-transited Bogotá – Medellín highway.

On Monday, a mudslide in the municipality of Copacabana, 80 km north of the capital of Antioquia, obstructed all vehicular traffic to the coast. No victims have been reported by first responders as they continue to clear huge boulders of rock and road cement logged in the mud’s path. The bad weather across Colombia is being caused by storm fronts moving in from Brazil, the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean. October is predicted to be the wettest month of the year with rains tappering-off by early December. Departmental risk prevention agencies have responded to more than 200 weather-related emergencies, and which have affected some 4,200 families.

In Bogotá, incessant rainfall is also impacting mobility, especially in two of the hardest hit localities so far with the invierno: Kennedy and Suba. Heavy rain on Sunday afternoon, flooded basements and underpasses across the Colombian capital forcing the evacuation of one building in the centro by the fire department. Drivers were stranded in cars along the NQS, Avenida Caracas and Calle 13 as water levels began to rise due to overflowing drainage pipes.

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