EFFORTPOST Avalanche or mudslide in Mocoa, which possibly killed over 400 people. 2017 Vid showing the bodies (put on display for identification), others showing the searches and cleanup, whole section for animal rescue, and BACKGROUND!

I've accidentally found a video showing the bodies, likely left for the identification, claiming it's from this event. So it's a good opportunity to make you a post in this quite unpopular disaster flair. You've already had tl;dr in the form of the above news video. However, the mentioned death toll was later changed, and adding the missing persons (more likely the missing bodies), the mudslide could claim 409 victims. There is barely any gore in this post, actually, but I hope you will like it.

Reportedly, it was the first disaster when the animals were included in the emergency efforts. At least that was claimed on Twitter of the Animal Protection Society of Bogota. So I included you a few cute animals as a bonus!

⠀HOW THE EVENTS UNFOLDED?

If you want to compare 'before' and 'after', go to the Google Street View. There is mostly June 2019 and March-May 2014 views available. Here a few pre-flood views from the city center:

From the scientific point of view, 'how did it happen?' was a subject of a few studies. Human rights activists were also pointing out another factors, and claimed that it was a 'foretold' disaster. But let's start from the beginning. At night from 31st of March and 1st of April 2017, a heavy rainfalls in Mocoa, southern Colombia, resulted in an avalanche of mud and water. This town is located in the Andes, and is characterized by tropical-mountain weather with high-intensity rainfall.

Heavy rainfall starting around 11 PM on 31st of March caused overflows in a few rivers, from which the three main are Rio Mocoa, Rio Sangoyaco and Rio Mulata. The landslides and river erosion provided a lots of debris for the river floods. A few separate ones resulted in a debris flow downstream in the Taruca ravine, northwest of Mocoa. The debris and floods were flowing at speeds of 56-64 km/h (or 34-40 mil/h). It, quoting, 'rushed resident buildings, streets, bridges, and other infrastructures. Massive debris and mud piled up in the city, with tree limbs, rocks, fencing, and vehicles in a disorderly mix'. As it were still pre-dawn hours, most of the residents were sleeping.

Here, more detailed map.

This one shows river overflowing effects:

Remote sensing images of pre-disaster and post-disaster. (a) Pre-disaster image (April 15, 2015). (b) Post-disaster image (April 10, 2017). (c) Overflowing rivers: ① the Rio Mocoa River, ② the Rio Mulato River, ③ the Rio Sangoyaco River, ④ the Quebrada Taruca River (two branches downstream: north-south, west-east), ⑤ the Quebrada San Antonio River, and ⑥ the Quebrada Taruquita River

⠀SEARCHES, MESS, CLEANUP AND CASUALTIES

The video in the thumbnail (attachment) was shared on 2nd of April. I was trying to look for a content from the 1st of April. I've found an RT article with quite a lot of content from the 1st of April. Credits for the quotes go to them!

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos told reporters on Saturday that the area had experienced 130 mm (5 inches) rain overnight, when the average monthly rainfall in Putumayo region is 400 mm.

The Colombian Red Cross are currently unable to accept aid donations until a suitable staging area has been established and proper means of distribution organized.

Governor Sorrel Aroca told local media that 17 neighborhoods had been damaged by the flooding, with two bridges closed and electricity supply disruptions expected to continue, hampering emergency response efforts.

Posted in the early afternoon on the 1st of April.

A video from Instagram, hour not given.

Below, a Twitter video, if it shows my local time, then the original one was posted past 9 AM.

Their Ministry of Defence posted these photos on 1st of April.

Debris has been strewn across the city of 350,000 residents.

Photos from Facebook, and again, if it shows my time then these are from around 9 AM.

Photo from around 10 AM.

The Colombian military are on scene to assist with evacuations and relief efforts and a state of national emergency has been declared.

More rescue efforts from 1st of April, posted in the afternoon.

'Ejercito' means 'army'.

Undated:

⠀ANIMAL BONUS...

Protección Animal Bogotá posted this on twitter:

Por primera vez los animales son incluidos en un plan de emergencias frente a un desastre, celebramos este gran logro.

"For the first time, animals are included in an emergency plan in the face of a disaster, we celebrate this great achievement."

This video was posted with a Spanish description, something like 'The others who survived', on 3rd of April.

Rescued dog:

Rebuilding a shelter for the sick animals (photos by Corazón Animal Putumayo):

Music warning:

⠀VIDEO SECTION

Here, video claimed to be showing the bodies, likely left for the identification. I don't know the time or where it was exactly and couldn't find it in another source.

A few news coverages. The Guardian:

Euronews:

Associated Press raw footage of clean-up.

An avalanche of water from three overflowing rivers swept through a small city in Colombia while people slept, destroying homes and killing at least 154 unsuspecting residents in their sleep, authorities say. (April 1)

The cleanup efforts in southern Colombia continued on Sunday, after surging rivers sent an avalanche of floodwaters, mud and debris through a small city, killing at least 200 people and leaving many more injured and homeless. (April 2)

AFP News Agency:

Families and friends of the more than 270 victims of the devastating mudslides in the Colombian town of Mocoa take part in an emotive mass burial for their loved ones, as survivors and rescuers keep up a bleak search for victims in the muck and debris.

⠀CAUSES AND THE ULTIMATE AFTERMATH

The death toll was updated all the time, at least partially by the army.

According to the Single Victims Registry, the catastrophic event caused 332 deaths, 398 injuries, 77 people missing and 7794 families affected (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, 2017; Cruz Roja Colombiana, 2018). In terms of infrastructure, the damage toll was 11 kilometers of destroyed roads, 1462 damaged houses, and the city's water supply system and power station were completely devastated.

The damage to structures caused by the 2017 Mocoa debris flows. The shading indicates the 2006 hazard map that formed the basis for land use planning.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has faced criticism for the relief effort. He told the reporters that it is natural for those affected by the disaster to blame the government, though. According to him, that's because of climate change, caused by the richer countries. He defended his gov's response to the Mocoa landslide, claiming rescue agencies were brought together just hours after the disaster. The president also claimed that the rescue operations had no precedents:

He said new systems had been put in place following deadly floods in 2010 attributed to the La Niña climatic phenomenon.

"We have a system, which we have been elaborating and creating after the phenomena of La Niña, which was the worst natural disaster at the beginning of my government, and the system is working," Mr Santos said.

"We put in place a central command where all the institutions that are involved started to work 12 hours after the disaster. This is something we have never seen before either here or in any other countries around the region."

Mr Santos said the tragedy was a demonstration that climate change "has terrible effects".

[...] "The intensity of the rain - it rained in two hours what would usually rain in one month. That intensity produced the avalanche that is a direct product of climate change."

However, it was later brought up that the government actions could prevent some harm. It is indeed a gov's fault to allow urban development in places which are not suitable for it.

Government agencies, land use experts, and environmental organizations had said for years that Mocoa could face dangerous flooding. Many who lived in the most vulnerable areas were aware of the warnings, even if they didn't heed them. And yet the city continued to spread into the floodplains west of downtown.

“Unfortunately, in Colombia we don't have a good assessment of risk, or good land use policies to prohibit people from settling in areas like these,” said Marcela Quintero, a researcher with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, one of the organizations that raised the alarm about deforestation in the area.

Mocoa was vulnerable because of its location, amid a confluence of rivers in the wet subtropical Amazon region of southern Colombia. The danger had grown worse as trees were cut for cattle ranching and other agriculture, removing protection against flooding and landslides. Then came an influx of new residents, many fleeing violence from the government's long fight with guerrilla forces.

⠀SOURCES

A lot of photos come from Twitter or Facebook.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39499764

https://www.rt.com/news/383087-colombia-mudslide-mocoa-flood Content from the 1st of April.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10346-018-0969-1

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/colombia-landslide-disaster-foretold-warnings-mocoa-flooding-mudslide