The municipality of El Cairo, located in the Colombian Western Range, faces a bleak outlook following the strong 7.4 magnitude earthquake that shook the region last Monday. With one hundred percent of its buildings affected, the town\u2014known for its captivating colonial architecture\u2014has become a scene where “Danger of collapse” signs set the pace for a community that refuses to give up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although the houses show severe structural damage and much of the infrastructure has collapsed, the 7,000 inhabitants of this town are working tirelessly. Solidarity has become the main engine of recovery, with volunteers, authorities, and public service workers removing debris from streets covered in dirt, bricks, and wood scraps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Agust\u00edn Restrepo Benavides, a local gravedigger, is one of the many people who has seen how five decades of family heritage were reduced to ruins. In front of his home, which lost its second floor, he reflects on the uncertainty of rebuilding in an area where soil erosion complicates the outlook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThis is long-term, it will be two or three years before El Cairo can recover. Right now we must try to have faith in God, we are going to move forward.<\/p>\nAgust\u00edn Restrepo Benavides, resident of El Cairo.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Assessment of damages and urgent needs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The acting mayor, Carlos Alberto Correa, reported that the natural phenomenon left a toll of three dead and four injured. Currently, the priority is the demolition of approximately 60 homes that pose an imminent risk to the population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
- Structural balance:<\/strong> 100% of the affected structures.<\/li>\n
- Critical needs:<\/strong> Construction supplies such as Spanish tiles, zinc sheets, battens, and nails.<\/li>\n
- Technical support:<\/strong> Experts and engineers from various parts of the country and abroad have joined the assessment efforts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Although the mayor acknowledges that the reconstruction of what was considered one of the most beautiful municipalities in Colombia will be an arduous task that could take up to a year, he highlights that the unity of the inhabitants is the greatest strength to overcome this natural tragedy. “We cannot fight against the phenomena of nature, but we will not give up until we recover our town,” the official concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
El Cairo, Colombia: Resilience and hope after the devastating earthquake The municipality of El Cairo, located in the Colombian Western Range, faces a bleak outlook following the strong 7.4 magnitude earthquake that shook the region last Monday. With one hundred percent of its buildings affected, the town\u2014known for its captivating colonial architecture\u2014has become a scene […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12809],"tags":[13582,6747,12831,8639],"class_list":{"0":"post-133798","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national","8":"tag-cairo","9":"tag-colombia","10":"tag-earthquake","11":"tag-reconstruction"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}