the town. The entire population was evacuated. In addition to the rain, a geological fault made the houses in this town to crumble like poker cards. 100 houses collapsed and some streets and pedestrian walkways broke open as if an earthquake had taken place. It is plausible that the town of Gramalote ceased to exist according to a report of Caracol Radio. Antioquia On December 5 a landslide occurred in Bello, neighbourhood "la Gabriela". Reaction According to the minister of the environment, housing and territorial development, Beatriz Uribe Botero, the government is currently alleviating the needs of people in "unavoidable highest risk" circumstances and has requested additional resources for unexpected events. The Minister has accounted for 275,569 damaged houses and about two thousand destroyed, most of them in inhabited areas. The assigned budget for the repairing of damaged houses is 1.76 billion Colombian pesos (approx. US$880 million). Request for help to the international community On December 7, Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos announced that Colombia would make a petition for a credit to the World Bank of 150 million dollars. Additionally he would make use of 25 million dollars seized to drug traffickers in order to help 1.3 million people affected by the floods and rains and the families of 154 people killed by the floods and landslides. On November 25, 2010, president Santos ordered chancellor of Colombia (equivalent to Secretary of State in the United States) Maria Angela Holguín to send a formal request of help to all the international representatives and accredited multilateral organizations located in Bogotá. Minister of the Interior and justice German Vargas Lleras announced that by decree the government declares a "national catastrophe" in order to make use of credits to alleviate the needs of the victims. Such decree was sent to the council of ministers, who approved it and provided access to 150 million dollars in credit from the World Bank. Vargas Lleras said that the priority was to alleviate the humanitarian emergency and then to begin with the reconstruction of houses and the prevention of new tragedies. United States The government of President Barack Obama through its ambassador Michael McKinley expressed commitment to the Colombian people affected by the rainy season. On December 15, 2010, McKinley announced that the American government had donated 1.3 million dollars as initial help and within the following weeks a team of American engineers of the American Army