why is south america being hit by deadly landslides
Thursday 30 January 2025
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Why is South America being hit by deadly landslides?

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicleWhy is South America being hit by deadly landslides?

Why is South America being hit by deadly landslides?
Bogota - Arab Today

It starts with torrential rain in the mountains. Then a wall of mud and boulders comes barreling down the slopes, sweeping away houses, cars and people.

Like a video stuck on repeat, the story has played out over and over again in recent weeks in South America, where hundreds of people have been killed in landslides.

First they hit Peru, where the indigenous Quechua language has a word for these flash flood-landslides: "huaycos."

More than 100 people have been killed since the start of the year in flooding and landslides in Peru, and more than 100,000 have lost homes or otherwise been affected.

In Colombia, the devastation is even worse.

The southern town of Mocoa was hit by an enormous landslide Friday that killed 262 people, including 43 children.

Why do these natural disasters occur? And why is South America being hit so hard right now?

"Nature has always been like this. Our ancestors understood it better than we do today," said Peruvian architect Augusto Ortiz de Zevallos.

"Just look at the archaeological sites that remain, sheltered from the onslaught of water," he told AFP.

Modernization has led to forests being replaced by farms, eliminating the natural barriers that restrain the water from torrential rains.

"During the (floods) of 2010 and 2011... 71 percent of the flooding happened in pasture land that had lost its trees," the head of the weather warning system for the Colombian meteorological institute, Christian Euscategui, told newspaper El Tiempo.

Colombia's weather authorities, who keep a close eye on deforestation, say it slowed by 12 percent in 2015. But that still meant forest losses of more than 124,000 hectares (475 square miles).

- 'Nature doesn't forgive' -

Global warming, which is melting the region's glaciers, is also driving the problem.

"Climate change is generating dynamics and we see the tremendous results in terms of intensity, frequency and magnitude of these natural effects, as we have just seen in Mocoa," said Martin Santiago, UN chief for Colombia.

Experts say chaotic urbanization is also to blame.

Mocoa's population was swollen by poor migrants and especially people uprooted by Colombia's half-century civil war.

These displaced residents and their often precarious houses were hit especially hard by the disaster.

"The centralization of society means people try to move closer to cities, no matter where it is, without considering whether a river used to flow there or if it's a ravine where rain accumulates," said architect Ortiz de Zevallos.

In the case of Mocoa, the town "was the victim of a lack of urban planning," said Colombian ecologist Rodrigo Botero.

"That's the case in nearly every region of Colombia."

Even Mocoa's own mayor, Jose Antonio Castro, said it "is not a place where a town should be," because of all the rivers surrounding it.

Three of them flooded Friday, triggering the landslide.

In the Peruvian capital Lima -- also hit hard recently by flooding and landslides -- Mayor Luis Castaneda said nature "got the better of engineering."

But that misses the whole point, said Ortiz de Zevallos.

"Engineering is about understanding nature," like the ancient Incas did, said the architect.

The bishop of Mocoa, Luis Maldonado, had his own take when asked if God had abandoned the town's people.

"God always forgives, man sometimes does, but nature doesn't forgive," he said.

themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

why is south america being hit by deadly landslides why is south america being hit by deadly landslides

 



Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

GMT 05:04 2012 Tuesday ,10 January

School Cuts Threaten Culture

GMT 14:38 2011 Friday ,25 November

Queen award for University

GMT 10:07 2012 Thursday ,13 September

Abul Khier’s launcher

GMT 17:58 2013 Friday ,26 July

Absence of democratic culture in Egypt

GMT 23:24 2015 Sunday ,12 April

Army, police service in Sinai Jihad

GMT 14:17 2018 Thursday ,11 January

GoPro shares dive as it cuts staff

GMT 09:04 2018 Wednesday ,03 January

Hong Kong's mountain warriors

GMT 20:56 2012 Tuesday ,30 October

I\'m not linked to rival parties

GMT 06:05 2016 Sunday ,09 October

Early nutrition education gains traction

GMT 22:14 2016 Thursday ,27 October

Saudi forces foil another Houthi attack near Jazan

GMT 06:28 2017 Wednesday ,22 February

UN expresses concern over lasting drought in Somalia

GMT 11:47 2017 Thursday ,21 September

Hot new talent to light up Milan Fashion Week

GMT 17:53 2013 Wednesday ,27 February

52 hurt in Algeria protest over social housing

GMT 07:32 2018 Sunday ,14 January

At least four dead in Indian chopper crash

GMT 16:33 2011 Tuesday ,02 August

Formosa shutdown may slow Taiwan economy

GMT 00:23 2011 Friday ,21 October

Post-American World

GMT 02:40 2017 Wednesday ,08 February

Kuwait’s new opera house catches fire

GMT 06:57 2011 Thursday ,25 August

UNHCR calls for help for 12 million stateless people

GMT 19:01 2011 Thursday ,11 August

UN urges Israel not to proceed with new settlements

GMT 23:11 2011 Wednesday ,14 December

UN calls for action on Syria in \'name of humanity\'

GMT 15:17 2017 Thursday ,16 March

Wydad ables to win in Gabon

GMT 08:12 2016 Sunday ,27 November

Spring/Summer 2016

GMT 23:20 2017 Sunday ,04 June

January 19 - February 17
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
 
 Themuslimchronicle Facebook,themuslimchronicle facebook  Themuslimchronicle Twitter,themuslimchronicle twitter Themuslimchronicle Rss,themuslimchronicle rss  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle