16 December 2011--The second rainy season in Colombia has already affected 81,247 people, caused 148 deaths, injured 130 people and destroyed 1,138 houses since 1 September. The greatest impacts were caused by landslides and floods. A landslide buried 15 people in the town of Las Cruces in the Nariño Department.
The IDEAM and other international meteorological centers predict that the rains will continue through December and the first quarter of 2012, due to conditions similar to La Niña. This will keep the risk of landslides at moderate to high levels in unstable areas of the Santanderes, Caldas, Antioquia, Tolima, Huila, Cauca, Boyaca, Quindio,Risaralda, Cundinamarca, and Nariño (11 Departments out of 32 in the country).
Capital cities in three departments have problems in drinking water supplies. Cucuta has limited drinking water due to preventive closure of the gate of the aqueduct after the oil spill in the Pamplonita River. Landslides caused damage to water systems in Riohacha and Manizales. In all three cities, the water supply is partially reinforced by tank trucks.
