Vargas tragedy

The Vargas tragedy, also known as the Vargas disaster, is what is known as the set of landslides, landslides and floods that occurred on the Caribbean coasts. of Venezuela, which occurred in the state of La Guaira on December 15, 1999 and was especially tragic for said state, from where it received its name, but which affects other regions of the country. This is considered the worst natural disaster that occurred in the country after the earthquake of 1812. The death toll, although unofficial, is estimated from hundreds to thousands (ranging from less than 700 to 30,000 deaths depending on the source), while The victims, also not officially confirmed, number in the tens of thousands. This fact appears in the Guinness Book of Records as the highest number of fatalities from a mudslide.

The areas most affected by the natural disaster of December 15, 16 and 17 are the coasts of the Vargas, Miranda and Falcón states. Thousands of people were displaced and entire towns were devastated. Among the infrastructure lost by the disaster were universities, large hotels, clubs, important communities, roads, among others.

Data of the phenomenon

Heavy rainfall left more than 1,814 mm of water in the state of Vargas in the first two weeks of December, causing soil saturation due to the amount of water, this in turn caused the water flow to go down slopes. of more than 30 degrees bringing with them landslides, rocks, trees and the vegetal layer of the mountains.

Background

Several events similar to those that occurred in December 1999 have been reported in the same area, among which the following stand out:

• 1798: In this year thanks to the undocumented anecdotes of a witness, the Osorio River increases its flow between 11 and 13 February of that year due to heavy rainfall that extends for 60 h; the center of La Guaira is affected by the destruction of some houses. Alexander von Humboldt visits the area a year later and makes some reports.

• 1951: A similar weather phenomenon occurs in the same area from 15 to 17 February 1951 when the Naiguatá river changes from the sea, rooting with it numerous houses while other rivers such as the Osorio and the Caracas grow by rainfalls affecting, the first of them, the city of La Guaira. These precipitations were estimated at about 530 mm of water in just 60 hours. The event was quite well documented in the newspapers of the time, especially in The Universalwhich also referred to the disastrous effects of rains in Caracas and the rest of the national territory. Another excellent source of information on the extraordinary rains of 1999, 1951 and other dates, in the Litoral center - northern Venezuela, can be found in: Antonio Luis Cárdenas Colménter.

Chronology

5 December

The first alert is declared in the Vargas state area by the regional Civil Defense organization, after 5 days of rain more than 120 millimeters of water have fallen in the area and at least 200 homes had already been destroyed.

6 December

The information center of the Venezuelan Air Force warns that in Vargas state alone it was raining three times more than the historical average.

10 December

The Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources issues an alert while the rainfall has accumulated 250 mm of water, having caused at least a thousand victims in the entity so far. The first major landslides begin to take place, by which time 1,500 tons of mud and debris had been removed from the roads.

13 December

Heavy rainfall hits the northern coast of Venezuela, the phenomenon originates when northerly winds try to pass the mountains of the central coast, unloading most of the humidity they contained on the northern slopes of the Serranía del Ávila. It is estimated that more than 5 times the precipitation has already fallen than what normally falls in the first 2 weeks of the last month of the year, having exceeded the historical maximum of 282 millimeters of accumulated water. Another 48 hours of precipitation are forecast.

14 December

While Venezuelans prepare to vote in the referendum for the approval of a new Constitution for the country that would take place the following day, the rainfall on the central coast continues, the region's firefighters consider declaring a state of Alarm in area. Precipitation reaches 400 mm of water.

After reporters asked him if the rains would motivate the suspension of the electoral process, President Hugo Chávez cited the words of Simón Bolívar, spoken on March 26, 1812 (in the midst of the fight for independence), about the ruins of a temple minutes after a strong earthquake in Caracas: "If nature opposes us, we will fight against it and make it obey us.

15 December

December 15, 1999 is remembered as "the day the mountain advanced to the sea", the heavy rainfall of the last few days gave rise to extensive landslides and landslides on the mountain slopes of the Serranía of the Ávila that cause immense and violent floods in the flow of the rivers, whose flow is normally small given their short length (the San Julián River, which originates in the Pico Oriental de la Silla de Caracas, at 2640 m s. n. m., and empties into the sea in Caraballeda, it is barely 9.82 km long despite being one of the longest). And due to the great slope of their basins, they begin to drag a large amount of sediment, immense volumes of water and enormous rocks up to 9 meters in diameter (the size of a bus), reaching speeds of up to 60 km/hour or more and depths of up to 9 meters, all of which causes great overflows and destruction in the populations that are located in the waste cones formed on the northern coast of Venezuela by said rivers. Logically, the populations were located since colonial times in those waste cones, which are the areas with the lowest slopes in the area. But precisely because of this fact, the destruction increases as all the materials carried by the rivers accumulate as their waters lose speed.

The country, in the middle of elections, does not know with certainty the situation of the affected states, the media begins to report the event.

16 December

The rainfall is still continuing and the landslides have already left towns destroyed in their wake. 11 states in the country are affected by the meteorological phenomenon, the most affected areas correspond to the coastal state of La Guaira. Accumulated rainfall reaches 1,200 mm in two weeks and an incredible amount of 1,700,000 cubic meters of mud and sediment are carried by river flows to the coasts.

17 December

After time allows, and with all the access roads collapsed due to landslides in the state of Vargas, aid by air to said entity begins from Caracas, the children and the elderly are the first to be rescued. The meteorological services of Venezuela, Brazil and the United States confirm that the rains will continue in the area for the next few days, but that they will decrease in intensity.

20 December

The national government declares 1,500 to 3,000 dead (most of them missing), nearly 94,000 victims and more than 130,000 evacuated as a result of the landslides.^{[citation required]< /sup> A State of Emergency is declared in 8 of the 23 entities in the country.}

21 December

The death toll amounts to 16,000 according to government estimates, contingents of the armed forces and volunteers begin a rescue by all possible means. Navy ships dock on the coast of Vargas state in order to evacuate survivors. A senior government official estimates that the death toll from the disaster could reach 30,000 people.^{[citation needed]}

Affected areas

In total 14 of the 23 entities that make up the country were affected by the torrential rains. The affected entities were:

• Anzoátegui
• Aragua
• Carabobobo
• Falcon
• Lara
• Merida
• Miranda
• New Sparta
• Sucre
• Tachira
• Trujillo
• Vargas
• Yaracuy
• Zulia

Rescue and reconstruction

The rescue of the survivors began relatively late a few days after the event, given the surprising situation. Coordination was in charge of the national government; soldiers from the four components of the country's armed forces, the Civil Defense organization, the Metropolitan Police, the national and international community, among others, participated. The Simón Bolívar International Airport of Maiquetía, located in the city of Maiquetía on the central coast, was used as a base of operations. From there the survivors were transported to the different shelters organized by the government, the main one being the one located in the Caracas Polyhedron in the capital city.

In the year 2000, official recognition was made of the noble work carried out by volunteers, institutions and private companies in rescuing damaged pets.

International aid

A few days after the disaster, numerous countries and organizations around the world offered their cooperation and help to Venezuelans, among the support received were rescue teams, food, medicine, drinking water, sheets, medical assistance, hospitals. campaign, helicopters, construction equipment as well as money.

Africa

• Algeria
• Egypt

America

• Argentina: President Fernando de la Rúa sends plane with 18 tons in aid inputs to the victims. The sub 23 football selections of both countries played in Buenos Aires a friendly match for the benefit of the victims.
• Netherlands Antilles
• Aruba: Material assistance
• Barbados
• Bolivia
• Brazil: Civil defence personnel, doctors, tents and search material.
• Canada: Prime Minister Jean Chrétien sends staff with experience in natural disasters to help with rescues
• Chile: President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle sends a plane Hercules C-130 of the Chilean Air Force with more than 209 tons in food, tents, beds and blankets.
• Colombia: President Andrés Pastrana sends 500 tents, campaign kitchens, a mission of 13 people specializing in disasters, medicine and food and $2 million.
• Costa Rica
• Cuba: President Fidel Castro sends medical personnel to help the disaster wounded.
• Ecuador: President Jamil Mahuad sends a military plane with food, medicine, relief equipment and doctors.
• El Salvador: President Francisco Flores sends inputs collected in the country by the Salvadoran people.
• United States: The US Ambassador to Venezuela agrees to send $75 000, UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters and C-130 Hercules aircraft. For his part, President Bill Clinton authorizes the Ministry of Defense to donate $20 million in humanitarian aid items for the victims, and the International Development Agency helps the country with another $3 million. In addition, some 120 American military personnel arrived with water purification equipment and four helicopters. On January 11, 2000, President Hugo Chávez rejected the shipment of two American ships transporting 450 Navy and Marine engineers, as well as tractors, bulldozers and engineering machinery. Chavéz claimed that Venezuela did not need additional personnel, money or equipment. A State Department spokesman assured that the United States had responded to a letter from the Venezuelan Defense Minister, who specifically requested military engineers.
• Guatemala
• Guyana
• Honduras
• Jamaica: Sending material resources.
• Martinique
• Mexico: The government of President Ernesto Zedillo sends field hospitals, equipped with medicines and beds, and sends a group of 190 rescue specialists.
• Peru: Sending material resources.
• Puerto Rico: Governor Pedro Rosselló González sends rescue specialist
• Dominican Republic
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Uruguay

Asia and the Middle East

• China
• South Korea: $30,000
• India
• Iran
• Israel: President Ezer Weizman offers a shipment of vital pharmaceutical material worth $100 000.
• Japan: 625 000 yen.
• Kuwait

Europe

• Germany: President Johannes Rau donated materials for the reconstruction of the Vargas state' drinking water system.
• Austria
• Denmark
• Spain: The government of President José María Aznar López donates to Venezuela half a million dollars for the acquisition of medicines to attend to those affected by the tragedy. Thousands of Spaniards donate money, medicine and books to help the victims of the state Vargas. The Government of the Canary Islands established various lines of economic and material aid and the sending of humanitarian aid on direct flights, for the attention of the affected population in Venezuela.
• Finland
• France: President Jacques Chirac sends economic and logistical assistance, in addition, the French Embassy in Venezuela rebuilds the town of Nuevo Guapo in the State Miranda with donations from France.
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland: The government of Mary McAleese donates about $308,000 in humanitarian aid.
• Italy: $500 thousand immediate aid. Dini's government donates more than a million dollars for reconstruction.
• Norway: 50 thousand dollars, in addition to medicines and communication equipment.
• Liechtenstein
• Monaco
• Netherlands
• Portugal
• United Kingdom
• Czech Republic
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Turkey

Oceania

• Australia
• New Zealand

World Organizations

• World Bank: Donation of $12.5 million for the construction of schools in the most affected regions.
• Inter-American Development Bank
• European Commission: It offers a total of 55 000 euros to the country for the reconstruction of the area in a 4 year plan.
• Andean Development Corporation
• Red Cross
• FAO (World Food Programme): $5.1 million is approved for the country as aid for rainfall survivors, which will be administered in a five-month plan.
• OAS: OAS Secretary General for the Present, César Gaviria, Transfers Resources from the OAS Emergency Assistance Fund.
• OPEC
• UNDP
• UNICEF

National organizations

• Asociación Bancaria de Venezuela: It collected about 2 billion bolívares (approximately 3 million dollars for that time) to be intended for the reconstruction of the affected area.
• BBVA Banco Provincial: Donate the state 180 000 square meters for the construction of new homes for the victims.

Non-governmental organizations

• Holy See
• Telmex Foundation: Donate the country about $110 million in humanitarian aid with light plants, medicines and food.
• ADRA: Sends economic and logistical assistance, also sends a plane with food, medicine, relief equipment, rescue personnel and doctors. Providers from Mexico, Germany, the United States and Canada, ADRA Venezuela also joins the aid with different inputs including water and food.

Others:

• Colombia: the broadcasters Cadena Súper, Colmundo, Todelar and some independent broadcasters organized the first 72-hour radio station, on 23 and 27 December to help the victims of the tragedy of Vargas through donations, and also served to find and locate some Colombian citizens who were at the time of the development.

Reconstruction

For the reconstruction of the Vargas state, a single authority (Auaev) was created, which at that time fell to Carlos Genatios. In addition, various new organizations were created, among them, CORPOVARGAS.

For its part, the reconstruction of the other entities in the country is carried out directly by the regional corporations, the governorates and mayors' offices and the community in general.

Universities take an important role in the reconstruction by proposing designs and urban planning for the Vargas state. During the first months of the year 2000, all aid is focused on removing debris from the affected areas. The restoration of the main roads in the Vargas state and the recovery of the Caracas - La Guaira Highway begins. The migrations and placements of the affected people by the Venezuelan government begin, to other states of Venezuela.

In 2005 it was decided to undertake a new action plan for the reconstruction of the state, the so-called Vargas Plan with an investment amount of about 920 billion bolivars, which at that time is equivalent to about 427,000,000 dollars, the plan is proposed minimize the risks in streams and areas of possible overflow of rivers and streams as well as reactivate the tourism sector of the Vargas state. The political opposition denounced and criticized the management of Hugo Chávez's government in the crisis, as well as the reconstruction process of the affected areas, as some were never finished.^{[citation needed]}