In my thirty years living in Cumaná I had not seen the river grow like this.
The amount of water that has fallen has been unprecedented and the damage to low income communities along the river bank and even in areas where the river is not supposed to get is significant.
This is the part of the river I see every day as I walk to work. Before I left for my hometown, I took these pictures. I meant to go down to the affected places, but I was unable to (that would be for another post).
The sidewalk along the river is uder water here.
The water has alrady flooded the park, which was already innundated from previous rain.
Like most rivers in Venezuela, populations have grown around and along their banks altering the natural course and hoping that a brick or stone wall here and there might tame these water bodies.
History shows that sooner or later water bodies claim their ancestral territories.
If that is the case here, a good part of Cumaná will be under water soon.
The river looks amazing from here, but if you live in a rancho or a house affected by the flood, the river becomes a hedious enemy.
This river is trecherous. Beneath the calm surface there are strong currents that can drag even the most skilled swimmers.
It called my atention that there were no kids jumping from the bridge (which they used to do whe the river got some extra water). They must know a thing or two about when to mess up with it and when to let it flow.
Across the country we are seeing unprecedented rain and many communities are struggling to live their regular lives. People are losing their belongings and in some extreme cases there have been fatal reports. We are hoping nature stops sending rain. We lack the equipments, personnel and organization to deal with natural disasters at a local level, let alone at a national scale.