Magically unwatered: Venezuelan town flooded 30 years ago reemerges thanks to El Niño (PHOTOS,VIDEO)
![Magically unwatered: Venezuelan town flooded 30 years ago reemerges thanks to El Niño (PHOTOS,VIDEO)](https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2016.05/article/572f1965c361884e638b45a0.jpg)
The Venezuelan town of Potosi had spent nearly three decades under water after it was deliberately flooded by the government to build a hydroelectric dam. Stunning photos show how the town has finally reemerged due to a drought, caused by the weather phenomenon El Niño.
Potosi, in the western state of Táchira, was once described as a "magical" place, an Andean paradise. It was home to some 1,200 people, who earned a living by working in the fields.
![RT](https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2016.05/original/572f193ec361884e638b459d.jpg)
Like many other small towns, it had a store, hospital, school, prefecture, square and church. Potosi was founded in the mid-19th century, explains Jose de la Cruz Garcia, a local historian.
![RT](https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2016.05/original/572f192ec36188ec188b4588.jpg)
The locals were forced to leave their homes in 1984 when the government of the former president, Jaime Lusinchi, decided to build “Uribante Caparo,” a hydroelectric dam of great importance.
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![RT](https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2016.05/original/572f0243c3618858188b4579.jpg)
The Potosi ruins, located 1,100 meters above sea level, have resurfaced due to the meteorological phenomenon of El Niño (a weather pattern marked by surface warming in the Pacific Ocean)
![RT](https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2016.05/original/572f0174c3618849198b457c.jpg)
The drought has also uncovered the remains of the church of San Isidro Labrador, standing to a height of 26 meters, and built in 1953.
![RT](https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2016.05/original/572efe73c361883f198b4575.jpg)
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