NW of the country, including Miranda, Vargas, Carabobo, Falcon, Varacuy and Zulia, down the slopes of Mount Avila onto a 300km stretch of the central coast
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Worst mudflows for how long?
200 years
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Main cause
High precipitation in the first 2 weeks of December
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What happened?
15th-16th December rocks and mud flowed down 2000m high Mount Avila, 8-10m thick
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What percentage of the population lived in these areas?
70%
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Who did the government blame?
Corrupt politicians who allowed slums in steep valleys around Caracas
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How many were killed?
10-50,000
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How many were made homeless?
150,000 in Vargas and Miranda. 44,000 became refugees, 20,000 homes destroyed.
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Marine environment
Container ships were destroyed - hazardous waste in the sea - increased pollution, decreased oxygen content, negatively impacted species in the port area
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Economic cost
$3 billion
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Economic disruption
Caracas International Airport temporarily closed - trade disruption.
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Benefits
Helped acheive urban-rural migration from the overpopulated coast to the underpopulated inland areas
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Search and Rescue
beneficial, but few recovered due to lack of organisation and infrastructure
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Emergency relief
Accommodation, water purification, food, medicines. However, not effectively distributed due to lack of infrastructure and high density of spontaneous settlements, thus a lack of data on population levels.
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Rebuild
Vargas was quickly rebuilt, Maiquetia airport and La Guaira port next, then towns of tourist function
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Resettlement
Victims were resettled away from the coast - 100,000 were evacuated to neighbouring regions
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Early warning
warning of severe rainfall events for future, however lack of telecommunications in the population - word of mouth is not effective
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
Worst mudflows for how long?
Back
200 years
Card 3
Front
Main cause
Back
Card 4
Front
What happened?
Back
Card 5
Front
What percentage of the population lived in these areas?
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