What is Vargas tragedy?
'''Vargas tragedy''' is one of the worst disaster that struck the [[Venezuela]]n country's [[Vargas]] state on 15 December 1999. It was a result of heavy downpour of rain, flash floods and mudslides that followed on 14-16 December 1999 which killed 10,000*30,000 peoples.This disaster led to an complete collapse of the infrastructure of the state of Vargas. Many towns were swept away to the ocean due to the floods.Whole towns like [[Cerro Grande]] and [[Carmen de Uria]] completely disappeared. As much as 10% of the population of Vargas perished during this event.The coastal area of Vargas has long been subject to mudslides and flooding: geologically similar catastrophes occurred with regularity. The most recent major flood was in 1951, however that event did not cause as much damage.<ref name=DebrisFlowUSGS>{{cite web |url= http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/ofr-01-0144/ |title= Debris-flow and flooding hazards associated with the December 1999 storm in coastal Venezuela and strategies for mitigation |vauthors=Wieczorek GF, Larsen MC, Eaton LS, Morgan BA, Blair JL |publisher= U.S. Geological Survey |date= 2 December 2002 |access-date= 31 March 2010}}</ref> In a 52-hour span during 14, 15 and 16 December 1999, {{convert|91.1|cm|sp=us}} of rain (approximately one year's total rainfall for the region) was measured on the north-central coast of Venezuela at [[Simón Bolívar International Airport (Venezuela)|Simón Bolívar International Airport]] in [[Maiquetia, Venezuela]]. These heavy rains included {{convert|7.2|cm|sp=us}} of accumulation in just one hour, between 6 and 7 AM on the 16th; precipitation on both the 15th and 16th exceeded the 1,000-year probability rainfall event. Even so, the coast received much less rain than some regions upstream. The disaster caused estimated damages of USD $1.79 to $3.5 billion.<ref name=DebrisFlowUSGS/> The death toll was considered to be between 10,000<ref name=HardToForget>{{cite news |url= http://www.tierramerica.net/2004/0105/iacentos.shtml |title= Venezuela's Vargas Disaster Hard