The Eruption of Nevado Del Ruiz Volcano Colombia, South America, November 13, 1985 (1991) / Chapter Skim
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6 Disaster Impacts
6 Disaster Impacts
Pages 65-69
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The Colombian military also played an important role in the logistics of the rescue activities by providing helicopter airlift for victims in need of medical care, fueling and maintaining airlift operations, transporting and distributing supplies, and establishing field medical care and shelter facilities. After the first 24 hours, resources of all types began to arrive through the joint efforts of the international disaster relief community, and the individual efforts of over 30 foreign countries.
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From page 66... ...
were overwhelmed and many patients had to be taken to distant cities. The limited number and small size of helicopters available in the first 48 hours limited the number of injured who could be transported to receive timely medical care.
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From page 67... ...
These activities are important to the reestablishment of routine economic and social life, even if the available facilities are makeshift and temporary. Government reports indicated that within two weeks of the disaster the government of Colombia and other organizations had managed to reopen many of the roads in the area; construct some temporary bridges; establish means for supplying potable water to communities whose water systems had been disrupted; begin the repair of some of the damaged water and sewer systems and fuel pipelines; begin clearing river channels and removing other debris; and establish victim reception and locator centers, aid dispatching centers, and temporary refugee settlements.
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From page 68... ...
LONG-TERM IMPACTS By December 1985, the Colombian government had prepared an initial assessment of its losses, estimated at 34.94 billion pesos (US $218 millionth The government also estimated that over 200,000 people were directly or indirectly affected by the November 13 eruption.2 Besides the estimated 24,000 deaths and 10,000 homeless, total losses (for all sites affected by the mudflows) included approximately 50 school facilities, as well as many experienced teachers and administrators two hospitals, including all their equipment and a portion of their trained staff · over 4,000 housing units · employment income in the affected regions, as a result of the disruption of major economic activities and the destruction of many industrial and commercial enterprises · portions of roads and railroad tracks, bridges, water and sewer systems, transmission lines, and fuel pipelines · 6,000 acres of grain and other crops, as well as many livestock, portions of the agricultural infrastructure, and much prime farmland While Armero was described by many as the primary regional agricultural service center, the town of Honda at the confluence of the Guali and Magdalena rivers also served important economic functions for the area.
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From page 69... ...
One major type of social impact was that of the likely change in importance and character for one or more of the smaller communiiies in northern Tolima, now that there was a need for some other community to provide important regional functions (e.g., financial services, farm equipment sales and maintenance, a junior college) that Armero once provided.
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