Red alert in El Salvador due to tropical storm Amanda

El Salvador was already suffering due to restrictions implemented due to the covid19 pandemic and now tropical Storm Amanda (formerly known as “2E”) is hitting the country.

Government has officially declared “Red alert“.

We’ll be updating with information from the CRIPDES regions.

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UPDATE FROM SAN VICENTE (JUNE 2)

Our friends from the organic farming association APRAINORES went today to see the damages in the surrounding areas to the Taura community caused by yesterday’s rains.

UPDATE FROM SAN VICENTE

The team of San Vicente visited Las Anonas again and, although some houses had water, there was not great danger and people remained at home.

There was water in the houses of people at the El Coco community.

The team also monitored the situation with the Lempa river, the expected discharges from the dam and they met with community leaders to create a plan for current floodings and for the rest of the rainy season. They also identified available shelters in the area.
15 families in the community Milagro de Dios were evacuated. They were located in the community’s church.
That is why organizing is important, especially during emergencies in these political times.

The crops in Las Anonas are lost:

El coco community:

Near the community Taura:

UPDATE FROM THE COMMUNITIES IN SUCHITOTO

Some communities have been affected by rivers that overflowed and by the destruction of access roads. In the area of San Francisco, the river went above the bridge. No fatalities have been reported.

“Hay algunas comunidades afectadas por desbordamiento de ríos y destrucción de vías de acceso. Uno de los mas preocupantes esta en la zona San Francisco en donde el rio que tiene una pendiente de mas de 15 metros hasta el Puente colapsó totalmente llegando hasta arriba de el y pues gracias a Dios no tenemos información sobre algún fallecimiento por causa de estas precipitaciones climáticas”

Images from the “San Francisco” bridge that connects Aguilares and Suchitoto taken on May 31st:

UPDATE FROM EL PAISNAL

These are photos from La cabaña, a village in El Paisnal.

Water system collapsed. Communities in the area will suffer from lack of potable water.

UPDATE FROM SAN VICENTE

The community of Las Anonas suffered with Sunday night rains. The community house has been offered as shelter to some families in the area.

UPDATE FROM LA LIBERTAD

At 10 AM the CRIPDES Sur team was able to do this preliminary report from 7 communities:

Comunity	Families	Damages
Charcón	18 Families	They completely lost their houses because the river overflowed.
Charcón	Aprox. 20 families	Flooded houses. They have lost their furniture and appliances.
Chilama Los almendros	Five families / community house	Houses flooded, loss of rooftops and appliances. A tree fell on a wall from the community house. There is no shelter and families are allocated in other people’s houses.
Maria Auxiliadora	10 families 10 familias han perdido totalmente sus viviendas	They completely lost their houses. The community does not have running water nor electricity after the river overflowed.
Chilama Norte	20 families	They lost their belongings
Morral	10 families	Affected by floodings. They are in a community shelter.
Cordoncillo	1 family	A wall was damaged. Owner of the house looked after psychosocial team working with CRIPDES Sur.
Tihuapa	20 families	Floodings
Melara	12 families	Floodings

Claudia, from El Charcón, updates from the shelter they are at:

Photos from El Charcón:

UPDATE FROM SAN VICENTE

Up until 11 AM it does not seem like people are going to be evacuated.

The electricity company (CEL) has informed their discharge schedule since discharges have been historically dangerous for the communities in the lower Lempa region.

These are photos from Las Anonas (sistered with Philadelphia):