Colombia to Rebuild Volcano-Damaged Area

A general view of the town of Belalcazar, on the over flooded banks of the Paez river, in southwestern Colombia, Thursday, April 19, 2007. The Nevado del Huila volcano erupted late Tuesday and early Wednesday, provoking avalanches and floods that swept away houses and bridges and prompted thousands to evacuate. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara) (Fernando Vergara - AP)

BELALCAZAR, Colombia -- President Alvaro Uribe vowed Thursday to rebuild roads and bridges swept away by floods and avalanches after the long-dormant volcano erupted in southwest Colombia.

Uribe pledged state funds for the reconstruction effort while visiting some of the 3,000 farmers who were forced to evacuate when the Nevado del Huila volcano exploded Tuesday.

"The bridges, roads and energy transmission lines can all be recovered," Uribe told the residents who relocated to the town of Belalcazar, 170 miles southwest of the capital of Bogota. "Thank God there were no human victims."

Air force helicopters were deployed Thursday to airlift more than 120 people stranded by the floods and avalanches, which destroyed 19 bridges along the Paez and Simbola rivers.

It was the first eruption on record of the ice-crowned, 18,484-foot Nevado del Huila, Colombia's third highest peak.

In 1985, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano exploded, setting off a series of mudslides that wiped the village of Armero away, killing about 21,000 people.