Oct
Advocacy, Get Involved
Crisis Continues: El Salvador Declares a State of Calamity
October 18, 2011
On Monday El Salvador declared a State of Calamity. This is the government’s response to the topical storms that continue to hit El Salvador and break records for the amount of recorded rainfall. The amount of rain that fell during Hurricane Mitch in 1998 is only about 68% of the rain that has already fallen in the last week and it continues to rain.
By declaring a national calamity the Salvadoran government can use any and all available resources for the next 60 days to respond to the emergency.
While the death toll, thankfully, holds at 32 people, it is almost half of the recorded (66) deaths in Central America. However, the number of people in shelters has continued to rise to 32,000 as well as 10,000 people evacuated and not in shelters. There are over 250 shelters on a national level, but six were closed by flooding. There is an estimated crop loss of between 40 and 80%, which will have dire effects on families in the upcoming year.
The government has been working around the clock to respond to the emergency. All government ministries are dedicating all their staff time towards crisis response. The Legislative Assembly has been holding extra sessions. Local governments are working 24 hours a day to evacuate communities, run shelters, and coordinate with the national government.
The sun has been off and on Monday and Tuesday, but the weather forecast calls for more rain beginning Wednesday and lasting until Friday
Emergency aid is urgently needed. CRIPDES, alone, estimates it will need $283,323 in order to respond to this emergency. Please donate today.
To make a donation, please click here and email us the amount of your donation at sistercities@gmail.com so that we can advance emergency funds as soon as possible. Or if you would prefer to mail a check send it to U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities, PO 95783, Seattle WA, 98145 (but, again, please email us the amount so we can advance the funds).
For more information in English visit:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/16/central-america-floods-2011_n_1014342.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15345755
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0070h86, program from 10/18, interview at minute 25.
For infomation in Spanish visit:
