Rome, Italy, Dec 14, 2010 / 01:57 pm (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI has expressed solidarity with the victims of the Dec. 5 landslide in the Colombian town of Bello.
Colombia’s ambassador to the Holy See, Cesar Mauricio Velasquez added that the Pope is urging solidarity with those affected by the torrential rains that have drenched 80 percent of the country. See full story here.
These tragedies occur over and over in areas like Central America --places of steep mountains covered by a thin layer of dense vegetation. The plant life, when it is allowed to grow naturally, forms a structural base for the soils on steep hillsides. When deforestation, due to over harvesting of wood crops and poor farming practices, removes this vegetation, heavy tropical rains will turn the hills' soils into a rushing, liquid and deadly wave of earth.
 |
| Example photo of a hill removed of its forest cover, and the result of a heavy rain. Click on the photo for a larger image. |
May God bless these victims.
