Thousands flee Colombian floods

Floods across Colombia caused by weeks of pouring rain have forced 100,000 people to abandon their homes and have claimed 11 lives.

All but five of Colombia's 32 provinces have been affected since the rains began in March, the government emergencies agency says.

Rivers have burst their banks and some 400 houses have been destroyed.

Still more rain is forecast, causing fears that the floods could become a national emergency.

The National Directorate for the Attention and Prevention of Disasters has warned that the country's waterways have reached breaking-point.

After so much rain, the soil is saturated and will absorb no more water.

Most of those who have abandoned their homes have nowhere to go.

Residents in some of the hardest-hit areas have taken to tying their cars to lampposts to prevent them being swept away.

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