The tropical cyclone season in Colombia starts next week, 15 days earlier “than usual”said Environment Minister Susana Muhamad at a press conference on Friday.

The senior official warned of the chance of 13 tropical storms, 6 of which could become hurricanes, two of which exceed Category 3 of the 5 measuring the strength of this meteorological phenomenon.

The areas most at risk, according to Muhamad, They are concentrated in the Caribbean: in the departments of La Guajira, Atlántico, Magdalena and Bolívar, as well as in the archipelago of San Andrés and Providencia.

Consequently, the work to create community early warning systems and begin the definition of refuges will be in these regions, especially in San Andrés and Providencia.

The minister called on the community of the islands to know where these shelters are located since last year, with tropical storm Julia, they have proven that, despite availability in these spaces, people did not go to them because they did not know where they were .

Similarly, he added that work will be strengthened in San Andrés and Providencia so that the homes have the prevention kits and know where to mobilize in case of an alarm.

In the year 2020, the Caribbean island of Providencia was devastated by the passage of Hurricane Iotathe first Category 5 hurricane to hit the country.

‘El Nino’ ​​expected for November

Regarding the El Niño phenomenon, which causes droughts, floods and causes temperature rises in different parts of the world, Muhamad announced that it will settle in the country “with a 90% probability” in November this year.

Although the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (Ideam) foresees that this phenomenon will be “moderate”, the senior official pointed out that she will meet in a Council of Ministers on Monday to “deploy all preparatory actions” from the agricultural sectors, energy , the plan against forest fires and the production of food.