ShelterBox returns to Colombia as floods affect millions

ShelterBox has returned to Colombia for the second time in less than six months after widespread flooding has affected an estimated three million people. 

Heavy rains throughout April have caused floods to sweep through huge swathes of Colombia, which had already been hit hard by flooding at the end of 2010. 1,600 ShelterBoxes were distributed to families then and now further aid is needed to deal with the latest floods. 

224 ShelterBoxes have been flown from Panama, where they were pre-positioned, to Colombia by the country’s air force. Sallie Buck (UK), one of the ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) members working in the country, says there is a big need for emergency shelter. 

‘Many of those affected are fishermen and their families, who traditionally live on the flood plain,’ she said. ‘The Rio Magdalena is a big tortuous river with lakes that have formed on each side of it. The floods have caused many of these lakes to come together. 

‘Whole villages are completely inundated. We visited one where 87 families have lost their homes and are now living in abject conditions under makeshift shelters.’ 

ShelterBox continues to work with the Colombian authorities to bring emergency aid to the affected families. Colombia’s first lady, Maria Clemencia Rodriguez, pictured below, has already thanked the SRT members for their work after visiting the first camp they set up in Barrancabermeja. 

The La Niña weather phenomenon, the colder counterpart to the El Niño phenomenon, is a result of cooler sea temperatures and can typically cause increased rainfall across areas of South America. 

The Colombian meteorological authority (IDEAM) expects the rains to continue into June and have placed red alerts for most of the main rivers and basins in Colombia’s Andean region.