In Mompox, a historic colonial town isolated on an island in the Magdalena River 250 kilometers south of Cartagena, locals have little to joke about these days. Flooding that began almost four months ago has extracted a heavy toll in terms of property damage and human suffering. But the situation has prompted some Momposinos to fantasize that their little town could become the next Venice, with canoes replacing the omnipresent motor scooters on its narrow streets.
The channel of the river that borders the municipality’s eastern-most avenue has engulfed a series of albarradas - seawalls - that were part of the city’s design when it was constructed in the mid 1500s. The river is known for its wild fluctuations; in most years, the channel all but dries up and is used as an alternate roadway and a place for impromptu soccer matches. But today much of the land that surrounds Mompox has been converted into a swampy no-man’s land of despair, as residents and animals alike struggle to find high ground. Throughout the region, thousands have been displaced while thousands more try to ride out the crisis, choosing to remain in their water-saturated dwellings.
On the lowest-lying streets of Mompox, horses slog through pools of water as men work nearby filling sandbags and trying to construct more effective barriers. "Our isolation here has only been emphasized by the flooding," comments Richard McColl, a British national who became the first foreigner to start a business in Mompox three years ago when he opened his small hostel, the Casa Amarilla. "The one bridge to the island, at El Banco, is out of commission because of the flooding. Everything now has to come via ferry from Magangue. It’s the winter season that just won’t end."
Many predict that it will be December or later before river levels start to drop. In the meantime, the island’s infrastructure, fragile even in the best of times, is under siege by the floodwaters. Recently, local taxi drivers barricaded the road to the port village of La Bodega, where ferries and chalupas from Magangue disembark, to protest the condition of the potholed road and the lack of support from the departmental government.
Indeed, some speculate that the animosity that existed between Mompox and Bolivar Department capital Cartagena when the two were political and economic rivals centuries ago remains a factor in relations between the center of power and one of the department’s most remote and least powerful municipalities. A small private car parked at the entrance of the alcaldia, loaded with boxes of surplus government food, a few dump trucks and road graders and pumps at work on the flooded road to La Bodega, are the only visible signs that any meaningful relief effort is underway. Conspicuous in its absence is the kind of government and NGO assistance that typically accompanies natural disasters. No military helicopters transporting relief supplies. No navy patrol boats racing to rescue villagers cutoff by the flood. No Red Cross providing food and comfort.
The biggest crisis may be with livestock and other domestic animals. The 40km road between Mompox and La Bodega has become a byway of misery. It is literally the last bit of dry ground for many miles. No one knows for certain, but 50% or more of the island might be covered by several meters of water, forcing large herds of Brahma cattle onto an increasing small amount of dry land. Along the roadway, emaciated and folorn-looking mangy dogs mix with pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys, horses and cattle, all looking for something to eat. Many island residents have abandoned their nearby water-logged dwellings and are building makeshift shelters out of poles and plastic sheeting on the road’s edge.
If there is one silver lining, it’s that fishing has improved. Abraham, an affable 10-year-old who lives in the flooded village of La Cienega, smiles because he is now eating two meals of fish a day.
