“Not god’s work” : an analysis of local narratives of the 2010-2011 flooding in Santa Lucia municipality (Colombia)

Abstract: The dam collapse in Santa Lucia (Atlántico) during the intense rains of 2010-2011 in Colombia resulted in one of the worst floods on national record. Six municipalities were completely covered by water from the Canal del Dique, an artificial branch of the Magdalena River. Santa Lucia was one of the municipalities that suffered from the flooding, with large economic and social impact across the region. This research aims to present and explore local narratives about the disaster, told by inhabitants of Santa Lucia. The concept of narrative, understands their stories as deeply embedded in the political, economic, social and environmental context. Using concepts like marginality, subalternity and liminality, this research unpacks different elements of the story, revealing tensions and power relations present in the pre-disaster and post-disaster contexts in Santa Lucia. In its conclusion, this research uses the concept of a meta-narrative, as a reformulation of the story, presenting the disaster as part of a story of transformation, shock and reshaping of the Santa Lucia landscape, in which – per Oliver-Smith’s work - vulnerability emerges as an uneven distribution of risk among individuals.