Pereira with its surrounding area has a population of about 550,000 people. The three Assemblies of God churches in Pereira had very minimal damage, with a couple of families in these churches having lost their homes. By contrast, some 70 percent of the city of Armenia is in total ruins. It will take days, even weeks, to find all the buried bodies. There is a shortage of caskets.
Bodies lie in basketball gymnasiums waiting to be identified and buried.
Therefore there is no coordination of relief functioning right now. The pastors are completely overwhelmed with the magnitude of this event. Almost all the families of their churches have lost their homes. Between the fear of pillagers taking what is left and the fact that they have used up their supplies of food and water, they are having a difficult time helping these families. Plans are underway to create a homeless shelter at a nearby church campground once roads are made accessible again.