Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Tornado Destroys Thousands of Homes

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

BOGOTÁ,, Sep 23 2006 (IPS) - After the tornado swept through the northern Colombian city of Barranquilla on Sep. 15 — affecting some 1,200 families — 61,250 sheets of asbestos will be needed to rebuild houses, local infrastructure secretary Nyry Logreira told Tierramérica. The tornado wreaked havoc in 14 city neighborhoods and a 17-hectare ecological reserve and injured 30. Logreira said that, in order to speed up response, the central government has declared the city a “public disaster area.”

The second rainy season begins this month in most of the country; the Environmental Studies Institute predicts rains will likely be light.