Deadly flood a ‘tragedy foretold’

quickly.

Headlines told of the “disaster foretold,” a reference to “Chronicle of a Death Foretold,” the 1981 novella by the late Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the country’s most famous writer.

Some media cited a 1989 report prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture that outlined the scenario that played out and recommended flood-control measures.

The Corporation for the Sustainable Development in the Southern Amazon, which has an office in Mocoa, has warned of the danger as far back as 1995, when the government built a power station that was knocked out by the recent flood.

The group said similar disasters have occurred over the years in the area, the most significant in 1962.

A Catholic priest in Mocoa, the Rev. Omar Parra, said in an interview on radio station LA FM that he was dismissed as “paranoid” when he told local officials three years ago that the Taruca River was spilling over onto people’s land and would soon burst.

“It was a tragedy foretold and the authorities didn’t do what they should have done,” he said.

People in the city were also quick to lay blame, even when they acknowledged knowing that the steep, forested mountains looming above the river by their homes posed a threat.

“It’s the government’s fault for letting us build homes here,” said Carlos Garces, who came to Mocoa more than a decade ago with his young son and Deya Maria Toro, wife.

“Everyone knew that it was going to flood, but nobody did anything.”

The national attorney general’s office was questioning the mayor of Mocoa and other officials to determine if any action, or inaction, on their part was responsible.

President Juan Manuel Santos has met in the city with the director of the Corporation for the Sustainable Development in the Southern Amazon.

Santos has pledged to rebuild Mocoa and make it better than before, though the government has not yet said whether that includes moving people out of the flood zones. Those who study the region say what’s needed are better land-use policies aimed at preventing the deforestation that takes away the best natural protection from flooding, and will be even more critical if climate change brings additional rainfall.

“The most important thing here is that people should not settle again in areas that are very high risk and prone to flooding and that measures are put in place to conserve the areas upstream,” Quintero said.

IVAN VALENCIA/AP Soldiers patrol a neighborhood in Mocoa, Colombia, where more than 290 people died in a flash flood.