Inside the world's most dangerous city

Manizales is a city in Caldas (the center of Colombia's coffee growing area), surrounded by beautiful rural scenery. However, because it is located under Nevado del Ruiz volcano, this place is constantly suffering from earthquake and volcanic activity at any time .

The worst natural disaster in history

On the night of November 13, 1985, Luz Estrella Arías stayed home with his daughter in Manizales. She heard a loud noise echo and thought the truck collided but then heard screams. She said 'my first thought was to stay in the house. However, after that, water began to pour in. I hurriedly hugged my daughter and ran outside. The water was so strong, I managed to grab a coffee and hold me back. ' As she spoke, she clung to a pillar on the porch to recreate that movement.

More than 250 of her neighbors live in the valley below, not so lucky. They were killed by water and rocks washed away by the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz volcano 15km eastward. After that, it took people a month to clean up the debris and restore everything.

Nevado del Ruiz volcano can erupt at any time.(Photo: Getty Images).

In the eastern part of the volcano, the damage is much more devastating. When the control station called President Belisario Betancur to announce that a town had been wiped from the map, the President told him not to exaggerate everything. He did not lie, two-thirds of the 29,000 residents there were killed in the landslide. This is the most terrible natural disaster in Colombia's history.

This area stretches in the Nevado del Ruiz volcanic area, so facing the risks of natural disasters cannot be compared with anywhere else in the world. The city of Manizales has experienced 6 major earthquakes in the twentieth century. In particular, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed 2,000 people. Volcanic eruptions occurred as if 1985 were rare, but now Nevado del Ruiz regularly spray ash as the city is covered with dust and the airport must be closed. Meanwhile, the mountainous terrain of this area creates a climate prone to heavy rain and is a favorable condition for landslides.

This city of more than 400,000 people has been learning how to live with an emergency. The first to build this city was the cowboy in the area between Bogota (Colombia's capital) and the Pacific coast. They are known to be very tough people. Experiencing many natural disasters with great losses, they are now famous for something that is excellent community policy.

Lessons from Manizales

Manizales becomes a global demonstration of disaster risk reduction. On the walls of the Colombia Geological Research office attaches a series of screens to relay notices of seismic activities, satellite images and via webcams of nearby volcanoes. With nearly 150 sensors and data collection points, Nevado del Ruiz is one of the most closely monitored and monitored volcanoes in the world.

At the same time, in remote, remote residential areas, the Colombian government is building concrete walls to stabilize slopes and dig drainage channels to minimize the impact of floods. The city of Manizales has a map to track the level of risk of buildings. Sensors are also installed everywhere to analyze the exact timing of floods and earthquakes.

City of Manizales often happens landslides.(Photo: EPA)

Mario Salgado-Galvez, a Colombian seismic risk analyst, said: 'In an earthquake wall, sensors will automatically calculate so that authorities can mobilize resources to the area. The affected area within minutes. Manizales is internationally recognized for its innovative approach to disaster prevention and response.

This special success is based on policy rather than technology. Colombia has asked autonomous urban governments to carry out self-assessment and risk reduction. However, the governors and mayors are more inclined to school projects or stadiums than invest in disaster recovery - something they are unlikely to be rewarded in the future.

In the city of Manizales, the real experience has helped people become aware of learning from disasters that have occurred.'Risk prevention has become a part of our culture' , said Jose Octavia Cardona, Mayor of the city, working in an overhead office overlooking Nevado del Ruiz volcano, sharing.

The City of Manizales also raises funds for a disaster disaster project in many different ways. In particular, the city issued a policy to collect environmental taxes; The general subsidy premium policy is calculated based on the property. Since then, the higher income sectors have helped poorer areas. Tax reductions are also applied to active homeowners to minimize property losses when a disaster occurs.

Every October, the city of Manizales also organizes 'Disaster Prevention Week'. Exercises are not only situations of natural disasters but also natural disasters such as fire or traffic accidents. This year, the focus is on training 60,000 students in Caldas who suffer the most in disaster - understanding how to respond to disasters and landslides.

In April 2017, prolonged heavy rain caused more than 30 landslides and claimed the lives of 17 people in this area. However, within a week, thanks to the response and warning system, the roads were buried and the city could return to normal operation.

Although facing frequent disasters at any time, carelessness in the warning of danger still occurs in many places. A month ago, in southern Colombia's Mocoa city, the storm was said to be one of the most deadly disasters in the country in the past decade. 250 people were killed, more than 30,000 others were evacuated and it took nearly 6 months for the city to recover everything.

Returning to the volcanic disaster of 1985, remnants are always a reminder to everyone. In a street, three black sirens were set up to warn people in case of evacuation. Escape from the historic eruption and volcanic eruption, Luz Estrella Arías currently lives in the mountains, in a new settlement. This is part of the resettlement program, bringing thousands of families out of flood-prone areas. Ms. Arías has been trained to respond to emergencies and now feels much more prepared than in 1985.