Colombia-Flooding leaves 50,000 homeless.

COLOMBIA-FLOODS LEAVE 50,000 HOMELES IN RURAL COMMUNITIES..

Floods in Colombia last weekend have washed away 50 homes and left

50,000 more homeless

The Colombian department of Magdalena as been left reeling after severe floods, with residents begging the government for help. Though these floods have not claimed any lives, the Magdalena river broke through levees last weekend and its waters spread into the adjacent town of Plato, leaving many of its residents homeless.

The floods kept Colombian President Alvaro Uribe from attending a conference of the Americas in Brazil this week. This is the latest in a string of floods that have killed 67 and left nearly a million homeless since September. Eighteen people remain missing. The flooding has also hit an astonishing 27 of the country’s 32 departments, indicating the wide-spread nature of the floods.

The Colombian rainy season, which typically lasts from June until September, has lingered on far longer than usual. These extra months of extreme rains have left many of the country’s rivers swollen, especially in northern Colombia.

Rain remains in the forecast for both Bogota and Medellin, Colombia’s biggest cities also located near the epicenter of the floods. Though no flood-level rains are in the forecast, there is a chance of rain showers for each of the next five days, and these rains could seriously hamper relief efforts.