The mudslide swept through the mountainous town of Corinto, in Colombia's south-west Cauca province, on Tuesday, November 7.
The mudflow occurred at about 17:30 local time last Tuesday, after the nearby La Paila river burst its banks, sending mud, boulders and branches through the center of the Colombian town.
Three people have died and 32 have been injured, while another 18 are reportedly missing. More than 200 families in the town of Corinto have been affected and at least 22 houses have been destroyed. The town's residents (population of 12,153) have been evacuated at the risk of further mudslides, as the river bed of the La Paila river is blocked by debris.
An alert was sounded in the town's center before 18:00 local time on November 7, allowing many residents to run to safety. Locals, however, argue that the warning came too late. President Juan Manuel Santos pointed out that had the early warnings not been activated, the magnitude of the disaster would have been greater.
The Colombian Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) reported that the accumulated rainfall in the region between Tuesday night (November 7) and the dawn of Wednesday (November 8) exceeded 150 mm.
According to the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, this was one of the most critical emergencies that Corinto has experienced in its history, because, although it's not the first time that the waters of La Paila river devastate everything in its path, this time the mud reached almost a meter high and entered the town's center. The two previous floods occurred in 1990 and 2010.
Mountainous areas of Colombia are often hit by landslides. The last major event occurred last April, when more than 300 people were killed due to a mudslide in the city of Mocoa, in southern Putumayo province.
Sources: BBC, The Watchers
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