Flooded town appears from the deep after 25 years later

Potosi has been under water since 1985, when a reservoir and hydroelectric dam were built where it stood. Now, with the water level at its lowest in decades, the eerie remnants of its church and cemetery, demolished houses, and the town square can be seen.

Former resident Vicente Garcia said: "It's sad to come back to where one lived with family, where one grew up and learned and lived a long time.

"Now we see the situation that there is no town and there is nothing. The only thing there is the memory of the people who lived here."

Around 1,200 people lived in Potosi before it was flooded. Carlos Andres Perez, who was the president of Venezuela at the time, flew in by helicopter to tell the residents they would have to leave.

The drought is being blamed on the climate phenomenon El Nino, which has disrupted weather patterns across the world this year.


/Sky News/