“The house is flooded, and water up to your neck. My mother-in-law also lost everything. Her chickens also drowned,” Yaley Martinez, a resident from the city of Cordoba in Colombia, said. Parts of the country were hit by heavy rainfall, causing rivers to swell into villages.
“We need the government to help us. We are like a ghost town. People have survived by whatever means they can, but the animals, crops [haven’t]…”, Martinez told the Colombian news agency RCN.
“Everything (is gone), the chickens, the enclosures, everything is lost. Everything, everything. Nothing remains. Everything that we had in my brother’s house is gone,” another local said.
Much of Colombia is struggling through a wet season. And further rain is predicted as the La Nina weather phenomenon kicks off in September.
In the city of Guaranda, locals on Wednesday made their way through streets with the help of canoes. “Every time there is a wet season, we have this problem, year after year,” the mayor of Guaranda, Gustavo Dias, said.
“Until the national government makes a final decision on the dam and its gates, then we will always continue to have this problem,” he added.
The Animal Reader is an animal news organisation and posts daily articles about animals. We need your help to continue reporting on animal welfare and animal rights. If you can, please consider supporting our work.