Since January, heavy rainfall has caused widespread flooding throughout Colombia. The Córdoba department is particularly affected. There, the German and Colombian Red Crosses are providing emergency assistance to 167,700 people, with EU support.
Luz María Muñoz, a resident of Córdoba, thought at first it was a normal rise in the river. It always swells during the rainy season.
’I left for work thinking it was like any other flood,’ Luz María says. ’But when I came back, the water was already inside the house. By the next day, everything was gone.’
In less than 24 hours, the flood destroyed her home. Beds, clothes, the cooker - all were swallowed by the rising water. Her story is shared by thousands. Across the department, thousands have been forced into shelters, schools, and improvised spaces.
Lack of clean water and risk of diseases
When rivers burst their banks and fields turn into lakes, wells are poisoned, pipes collapse, and clean drinking water becomes suddenly scarce. This is the paradox at the heart of the floods sweeping across the country, affecting more than 250,000 people in 22 departments.
As families move into crowded shelters or remain stranded in flooded homes, the danger is not only the loss of shelter or crops, but disease. Contaminated water spreads fast, increasing the risk of diarrhoea, skin infections and dengue. For children and older people, it can be deadly.
Supporting access to water, sanitation and hygiene
Working alongside communities, the European Union has supported the Red Cross to focus on what matters most in the first days of a flood:
access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene
The response includes emergency water systems, purification tablets, hygiene kits, logistical support, and satellite mapping to reach areas cut off by floodwaters.
Red Cross volunteers have moved door to door and shelter to shelter:
Related links
This page was last updated on 17 March 2026