20 years ago in the Colombian history, November the 13th 1985, a week after the violent recovers of the Justice Palace; the Arenas volcano (part of the Ruiz snow-covered volcano) did erupted and caused a lack of equilibrium in the snow in the east side, with a temperature of 700ºC. This become into a flood of water, mud and stones who wiped away the city of Armero. Almost 25000 people died in the tragedy.
It was at night when the radio station of RCN Ibagué received a call from the keeper of the branch in Armero, with a scary phrase: “here comes the flood”. “Go out, save your life”, said the people in Ibagué. The keeper answered: “I can’t leave this place alone” and no one knows what happened to him.
In the afternoon, Armero did saw a rain of ashes, the warning of the nature; but on those days there was no enough technology to warn the population and too few people did leave the city at time. Anyway, there were also people who get the warning and didn’t do anything, because they didn’t felt fear of the volcano.
The ground makes noise, the walls move hard, according to the word of a survivor, who says that he would be dead if his mother didn’t was worried. “Hey, this is weird, there are horrible noises.” And they run away from their home. They saw the food striking hard the town, and tried to run but the flood took ‘em and covered ‘em with mud to the neck. Thanks God, they climbed up some trees and went to the roof where they spend the night. All was darkness in Armero, fear, death, despair, and the crying of the people.
2:50 a.m., Bogotá.
The journalist and radio announcer of RCN Bogotá, Juan Gossaín received the call of a pilot who was saying that the town of Armero was gone. “Gone is a big word”, did say the journalist. He was breathless when he called to the branch of Armero to confirm the story, and there was no answer. “Armero doesn’t exists anymore, now there’s only plains”
The new was spread by radio: “ARMERO DISSAPEARED”. RCN Bogotá radio station. In a few hours was known for the world.
3:00 a.m.
The journalist gets another call. There will be a second flood, and he tries to tell it to his people.
3:00 a.m. Bogotá.
My mom wakes up and turns the radio on. She hears: “Armero was wiped away form the map”. She wakes up the family and tell ‘em the story.
3:01 a.m. Armero
While people came out of the mud, totally confused, they get the warning of the second flood. Another journalist who was helping people to get out the mud said that the warning was too late when they got it.
Colombia didn’t sleep that night…
In the morning all Colombia was helping the extinct town of Armero. Days after the flood they still founding people, dead and alive. When some survivors were taken out of the mud, there was joy; but a few minutes later they were dead because the change of pressure. The most representative image is the one of a lil’ girl called Omaira Sánchez, who was 13. She was trapped in the ruins of what was her house, and the rescuers tried to take her out by all the ways they can, and keep her warm. After three days of struggling, Omaira said “good bye dad, good bye mom”, and died.
Only survived 2000 people, from a population of almost 27000. 8 months later, Pope John Paul II went to the now holy ground of Armero. The survivors continued with their lives and now, in the place where once was a prosperous town; there was only a white cross. The Pope kneels and prays, and the Colombian people felt touched and cried. “Armero doesn’t need a tear, needs a pray”, said.
Twenty years have passed since the day when happened the biggest natural disaster in Colombia, who marked the past, present and future of the generation who lived it and the one who only hear the echoes of the tragedy as a lesson.
May rest in peace the victims of the volcano that some people say never will wake up again. I won’t be so confident, ‘cause something like that happened 140 years in the past, in 1845, and could happen again 140 years in the future counting from 1985.
