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Vista del río Gaira a su paso por el sector de Minca, en Santa Marta, Magdalena, durante la alerta naranja hidrológica del Ideam
El río Gaira, en la estación Minca de Santa Marta (Magdalena): el Ideam declaró alerta naranja hidrológica tras una subida de 0,48 metros en tres horas, hasta 0,95 metros. · Semana

Ideam declares orange alert over rising Gaira River in Santa Marta

Ideam declared an orange hydrological alert for the Gaira River at the Minca station in Santa Marta: the level reached 0.95 meters after rising 0.48 meters in…

Colombia's Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (Ideam) issued an orange hydrological alert on November 3 for the Gaira River at the Minca station in Santa Marta, Magdalena, over the risk of a sudden rise and flooding. --- The context --- The alert comes within a broad national monitoring picture: 196 hydrographic subzones across the country carry some type of warning for the probability of sudden rises or flooding. The Colombian Caribbean concentrates the largest number of red hydrological alerts, with nine subzones at high risk. --- The facts --- According to Ideam's real-time report, issued at 04:30, the Gaira River reached a current level of 0.95 meters after an upward variation of 0.48 meters in the previous three hours. The measurement corresponds to the Minca station, in the Río Piedras - Río Manzanares hydrographic subzone, where a continuous increase in the level of the Piedras River was also recorded during the last hour of monitoring. In the red alert category, the Caribbean hydrographic area leads with nine subzones, followed by the Pacific with eight and the Magdalena-Cauca basin with three. Under orange alert, the largest affectation is in Magdalena-Cauca with 39 subzones under monitoring, followed by the Caribbean with 27, the Pacific with 20, Orinoquía with three and Amazonía with one. Under yellow alerts, the Magdalena-Cauca basin concentrates 39 subzones under a preventive notice for fluctuations in flows. --- The positions --- Ideam, the national technical agency, confirmed that only one hydrographic subzone is under a specific red alert for overflows or torrential avenues, in the Magdalena-Cauca basin, and ratified that there are no alerts for low water levels or drought in the country. The agency maintains real-time monitoring of the Minca station and of all subzones under warning. --- What remains unknown --- The source does not report concrete impacts in Santa Marta: it does not specify flooded homes, closed roads, evacuations or measures adopted by local authorities in response to the Gaira River alert. It also does not indicate how long the orange alert will remain in place or the rainfall forecast for the coming hours in the Minca area. --- Unanswered questions --- Did Santa Marta authorities adopt preventive measures in the riverside sectors of the Gaira River after the alert? Will the level keep rising in the coming hours or did the flow begin to stabilize? Which communities of the Río Piedras - Río Manzanares subzone are under direct monitoring for the risk of a sudden rise? --- EPM analysis --- From a general-interest reading, the early warning is the tool that separates an announced rise from an emergency: Ideam measured, published the variation and set the risk level hours in advance. That warning only fulfills its function if it reaches the riverside communities and if local authorities act on it as quickly as the water rose. The national figure reinforces the scale of the moment: 196 subzones under some warning show an active monitoring system across the country, and the concentration of red alerts in the Caribbean requires special attention to Santa Marta while the monitoring lasts. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, the orange alert over the Gaira River is a serious and timely warning: a rise of 0.48 meters in three hours is not a minor figure for the communities of Minca and the Río Piedras - Río Manzanares subzone. Ideam did its part by measuring and warning in real time; it is now up to local authorities and riverside residents to take the warning seriously, watch the flow and prevent harm before a rise, if it comes, turns into damage.
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