The town sinks 'floating' again after 25 years

The worst drought in Venezuela for decades has caused a town flooded in water for the past 25 years to suddenly come back.

In 1985, the town of Potosi in the state of Tachira was home to about 1,200 residents. Then, on a fateful day, Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez visited the town with an information: Potosi would be evacuated to build Uribante reservoir to serve a hydroelectric dam.

The church and the houses have been abandoned. People are evacuated to relocate in new places. The town was then engulfed in water. Normally, only the church bell tower is floating out of the water of the 20km ² Uribante reservoir.

Church tower between Lake Uribante and water .

. and when experiencing a historical drought.

But now a historic drought has struck Venezuela, causing the water level at the Uribante reservoir to hit a record low, revealing the old town of Potosi: the church, the destroyed houses, the traces a graveyard and a square.

Analysts said El Nino, an unusual weather phenomenon that caused heavy snowfall and heavy rain for winter this year, was the cause of the worst drought in Venezuela for decades. come here.

Droughts and water shortages in hydroelectric reservoirs have made Venezuela seriously short of electricity throughout the country.