San Andres and Providencia
Hurricane Iota (2020) destroyed 98% of Providencia; tourism collapsed 70% by 2024; 28% chance of Category 4-5 hurricane in next decade.
Colombia's only offshore department sits 720 kilometers from the mainland—closer to Nicaragua than to Cartagena—and lives on an economic edge as precarious as its geography. San Andrés, with 78,000 residents crammed into 26 square kilometers (3,000 people per km²), is one of the Caribbean's most densely populated islands. Tourism dominates: duty-free shopping and beaches draw Colombian vacationers seeking affordable Caribbean getaways. But that dependency proved fragile when Hurricane Iota struck in November 2020.
Iota, a Category 5 hurricane, destroyed 98% of infrastructure on smaller Providencia and Santa Catalina islands, flattening 2,000 homes among a population of 4,600. Reconstruction required $335 million and took until 2023 to fully restore tourism capacity. The underlying vulnerability remains: San Andrés faces a 28% chance of another Category 4-5 hurricane within ten years. Tourism has since collapsed—declining 30% in 2023 and 70% by Holy Week 2024 compared to prior years. The UNESCO Seaflower Biosphere Reserve and Providencia's 32km coral reef provide both ecological value and physical storm protection, yet climate change threatens both.
By 2026, the archipelago will test whether post-hurricane resilience planning can outpace climate risk. Providencia earned a 2025 UNESCO 'Best Tourism Villages' nomination for regenerative tourism, but the economic model remains fragile. If diversification beyond mass tourism succeeds and coral reef protection continues, the islands could model Caribbean climate adaptation. If another major hurricane hits before resilience investments mature, Colombia's Caribbean outpost may become uninhabitable.