The government of Colombian President Gustavo Petro has declared an herbal disaster, which would allow a more effective reaction to torrential rains.
Declaring a herbal crisis provides the government with a budget to respond to rains affecting more than 700 of Colombia’s 1,100 municipalities, according to authorities.
Disaster response firm UNGRD said Friday that more than two hundred people have died as a result of rains in the current rainy season.
According to the UNGRD, an additional 416,000 people are affected by excessive rainfall caused by the “La Niña” weather phenomenon, which exacerbates annual rainfall once every few years.
So much has worsened at this level that neither the municipalities nor the provinces can well solve the disorders derived from the climate catastrophe, it is up to the Nation.
Petro said Friday he would use the emergency budget “to help the population in crisis due to flooding and famine. “
The excess rainfall is due to annual rainfall that is not unusual in this part of the year and the La Niña weather phenomenon, which occurs once every few years.
Petro would use the emergency budget “essentially” for the reaction to the crisis “depending on the region. “
“In some cases, other people will have to be displaced,” said Petro, who advised the government to compensate farmers for lost crops as a result of the emergency.
The rains increase the threat of flooding in Colombia’s northern Caribbean region and the central Andean region, according to the UNGRD.
#UngrdInforma | From Los Angeles to the village of Buenavista in the municipality of La Mesa, Cundinamarca, there was an overflow of a body of water causing flooding that affected several rural homes in this region of the country#TemporadaDeLluvias pic. twitter. com/eFlr56avBz
– UNGRD?? (@UNGRD) 31 October 2022
#UngrdInforma | In the municipality of Granada, Cundinamarca, there was a sudden increase as a result of the heavy rains of the last hours, causing serious mobility problems and affected vehicles#TemporadaDeLluvias pic. twitter. com/sMZ7yAsq5Z
– UNGRD?? (@UNGRD) 31 October 2022
Declaring an herbal crisis The government’s discretionary powers to spend the public budget on crisis prevention and response.
Petro has said in the past that he is contemplating signaling an economic emergency, a much more radical move that allows governments to factor in emergency decrees without congressional approval.
The president opted for the less drastic decree that gives the National Government more budgetary powers for crisis management.
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