Photo / Duque calls on US air support to help those affected by the hurricane

The president recalled that “in the case of Providencia we have 98% destruction of the entire infrastructure, the houses have disappeared”.

Colombian President Iván Duque has asked the United States for air assistance to transport large quantities of humanitarian aid to the thousands of people affected by the devastating passage of Hurricane Iota through the archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina.

“We are asking for support from the United States, with high-capacity aircraft, to mobilize aid; we have been working with the Southern Command in recent days and we hope these planes can help us transfer aid, which will be very important in the reconstruction process.” Duque said in San Andrés, where he has been dealing with the emergency since last Tuesday.

The president referred to the situation by participating in a virtual conversation organized by the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue study center, his office reported.

The Colombian archipelago, inhabited by about 65,000 people, was hit at dawn last Monday by Hurricane Iota, category 5, with winds of up to 250 kilometers per hour, which left at least two dead, one missing, several injured and numerous material damage on the three islands.

The greatest devastation was suffered by Providencia and Santa Catalina, whose buildings were almost completely destroyed by gusts of wind and torrential rain and were also cut off from the rest of the country.

“The United States has learned a lot about how to rebuild after major hurricanes, what the materials should be, the correct types of construction, and also how we can speed up the rebuilding process,” Duque said.

The president recalled that “in the case of Providencia we have 98% destruction of the entire infrastructure, the houses have disappeared”.

The situation in San Andrés, the largest island of the archipelago, is less dramatic, where, as the president explained, “we have impacts on homes, but specific attention and negative impacts on structures can be managed”.

Since last Tuesday, when the weather conditions in the area have improved, the Colombian government has sent tons of food, water, tents, personal hygiene kits and other materials by air and sea to help the victims.