Flood-stricken city in Colombia mourns as death toll climbs

“It is better this way, better to know,” Garzon said as he walked alongside the car carrying her body to the cemetery. “At least we know where she is.”

The Colombian Red Cross said it has received 374 requests for help from families unable to locate loved ones, people whose whereabouts were still unknown three days after the disaster.

Much of Mocoa was still strewn with rocks, tree limbs, and brown muck. Search and rescue teams continued to probe piles of debris whenever someone heard a possible sound of movement. Many in this city of around 40,000 people still seemed in shock from the flood, which poured through the town after a punishing rainfall as people slept late Friday night and early Saturday.

“We do not like to create false expectations but where there is a possibility of life we will do everything possible,” said Carlos Ivan Marquez, director of Colombia’s National Unit of Disaster and Risk Management.

Many victims were young like Garzon’s 14-year-old sister. “She had gone to sleep at a friend’s house. When we got to where the house was we didn’t find anyone,” he said.

As he walked calmly in the funeral procession, his mother sobbed and screamed in grief: “Leidy! What did you leave me? Leidy, my girl.” Her son then put his arm around her as they made their way to the cemetery.

President Juan Manuel Santos and other officials pledged emergency relief and said that Mocoa would be rebuilt, including a new water system to replace the one damaged in the flood and new homes for those in the 17 neighbourhoods hit hardest by the surging water. He said he had spoken by phone with U.S. President Donald Trump, who promised assistance, as have other nations including China and Venezuela.

Santos also declared an “economic, social and ecological emergency,” a designation intended to speed reconstruction efforts.

“We are not going to stop until everyone affected by this natural disaster receives help,” Marquez said.

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Associated Press writer Cesar Garcia contributed from Bogota, Colombia.

Alba Tobella, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Flood-stricken city in Colombia mourns as death toll climbs

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