Sister Cities
Flooding Causes Emergency in El Salvador, Nov 9, 2009
As many of you have heard, heavy rains as a result of Hurricane Ida that hit Nicaragua recently caused flooding throughout El Salvador. Many CRIPDES communities, especially in the area of La Libertad and the communities of Las Anonas and Chilama, have been affected by the rains. CRIPDES is working to help those affected in these – and all – the communities.
If you are able and interested in helping, you can send a check to Sister Cities, along with an email to sistercities.elsalvador@gmail.com stating the amount you will be sending. Sister Cities will then be able to transfer the money to CRIPDES immediatly, so that the organization and the communities will have access to emergency funds.
Below is an article with a brief update of the situation here, and more updates and analysis from CRIPDES will be available in the coming days. Thanks for your solidarity and support.
–El Salvador Staff and Volunteers
President Funes Decrees a National Emergency
Translated from Diario CoLatino, Nov. 9, 2009
The President of the Republic, Mauricio Funes, decreed last night a National Emergency, due to the downpours and floods caused by the intense rains Saturday and Sunday, which primarily effected the Departments of San Vicente and San Salvador the flooding left numerous damages and 124 people died.
All of the Government Ministry’s economic and human resources are assisting the victims and the zones at highest risk, and the President of the Republic authorized a special part of the Ministry’s budget to immediately address the most urgent emergencies.
The President also called on the Ministries of Health and Defense, including the National Civil Police, to attend all of those affected by the climatic phenomenon.
“This emergency will bring attention to the grave housing and food situation generated by the disaster”, assured President Funes.
In his message, he assured that all the strength of the central government have been called upon to attend to the emergency and called on the Salvadoran people to work in solidarity with those affected.
For those who are still in zones at risk, the President urges them to seek refuge in housing that that is available to people in at-risk areas. In the following days, the government will evaluate the damages from the hurricane, with the help of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) and the United Nations.
In just four hours, 355 mm of rain fell, an amount equivalent to one month of precipitation in normal rainy periods. The only comparison to the past weekend’s rainfall is what fell during Hurricane Mitch in 1998. During four days, Hurricane Mitch left almost 400 mm of rain.
Funes indicated that the tragedy that occurred because the previous government did not focus on mitigation projects in high risk areas.
The President assured that this will no longer happen, and that the government will not leave those affected alone without help.
“The Government will not rest in these hours of vigil”, says the dignitary, while he sent his condolences to the victims of the hurricane.
