overflow of the La Presidente stream

What began as a cloudy afternoon in the Aburrá Valley on January 28, ended in an unprecedented emergency in El Poblado. A security video captured the exact moment in which the La Presidenta ravine, in a period of just 44 minutes, exceeded its critical level and overflowed onto the main roads, leaving a trail of destruction and an uncontrolled flow that swept away everything in its path.

The phenomenon, which occurred last Wednesday, surprised experts, since in less than an hour more water fell in some sectors than is normally recorded in the entire month of January.

The magnitude of the event was evident in the monitoring stations near the INEM José Félix de Restrepo and the upper part of Las Palmas, where the flow reached historical peaks of up to 185.93 millimeters.

This water pressure generated severe flooding in strategic points such as Patio Bonito, Superior and Los González, and the vicinity of the Monterrey roundabout.

Also read: Chamber and Senate united by pain: they mourn the death of representative Diógenes Quintero

Between 2:46 pm and 3:30 pm, the 123 emergency line collapsed with more than 250 calls from citizens reporting how the water completely covered the tires of the vehicles and turned the streets into rivers of mud.

Given the seriousness of the situation, the Unified Command Post (PMU) deployed more than 200 officials, including Firefighters, Police and personnel from the Infrastructure and Environment Secretariats.