Jul
Sister Cities
16 Storms Expected for El Salvador’s 2010 Rainy Season
Although the rainy season only began a little over two months ago, El Salvador has already suffered two very destructive storms. The first, Tropical Storm Agatha, consisted of five days of heavy rain at the end of May and caused landslides and flooding that damaged bridges, schools and homes. Nearly 9,000 people were evacuated from their homes. Only a few weeks later, the country was hit by a second storm, Tropical Storm Alex, which forced 1,222 people to evacuate their homes and left three dead and many crops damaged. At the national and regional level CRIPDES responded to the needs o affected communities by helping families evacuate and providing them with shelter, food and toiletries.
CRIPDES continues to respond to each emergency as it arises, as they simultaneously organize the regional leadership in natural disaster mitigation and risk management. San Vicente and La Libertad are both vulnerable regions and often suffer the worst damages from storms. However, since the effects of Agatha were felt in the northern regions of the country like Aguilares and parts of Chalatenango, there has been a push for more preparation for natural disasters in all the CRIPDES regions.
Unfortunately, the worst may not be over. This year’s hurricane season is expected to be especially fierce, with a total of nine hurricanes, four intense storms and three storms of lesser intensity expected. Every one of these storms has the potential for causing more damage to infrastructure and more evacuations that will demand the assistance of CRIPDES. In order to be better prepared to assist these expected relief efforts, Sister Cities is starting a Storm Relief Fund. This general fund will allow us to channel funds donated at any point to the most urgent emergency relief efforts, depending on when donations arrive and how great the need is after each storm. This way we will be able to respond immediately to CRIPDES calls for support just as they respond immediately with food, water and shelter in affected communities. While Sister Cities supporters can donate to this fund at any time we will continue to send out updates about future storms and specific appeals for donations to the fund.
