Tenth Day of Heavy Rain Pounds El Salvador

As torrential rains in El Salvador continue on this tenth day of record-breaking rain, evacuations continue and hopes of returning home seem far off.

As heavy rains continue, leaders like Alex Torres, President of UCRES, are concerned that the situation will continue to worsen: “The soil is saturated, and we think that more rain today will cause more damage than has happened in the past week.”

In the Balsamo Range, at least 375 people were evacuated in the middle of the night as a large crack in the mountainside formed, threatening a massive mudslide. Civil Protection has asked people to remain on high alert for mudslides; on Sunday night, five people were buried alive when a mudslide brought earth, rocks and trees on top of their homes in the municipality of Ciudad Arce, La Libertad.

Official numbers as of October 18th count nearly 35,000 evacuees in 267 shelters through out the country. The death toll has not risen since the weekend; 32 people have lost their lives in this most recent emergency. The September 15th dam continues to release high amounts of water, signifying continued flooding and high water levels in the Lower Lempa region.

In the Bajo Lempa region, national media reports that hundreds of people refuse to evacuate but, local leaders share a different story. Over 50 people in the community of Nueva Esperanza were trapped beginning Sunday, when the waters rose too high to wade out. As rains pounded, Sister Nohemi of the Pequeña Comunidad and other community members huddled on rooftops and in the church bell-tower to avoid the meters-high water.

As Irma from ACUDESBAL, a local organization, shared with us, “here in the Bajo Lempa, we’re all one family. People care about each other, and worry about each other.” In the end, it was the young men in the ACUDESBAL-trained rescue group that were able to evacuate stranded community members.

While some people wait for evacuation, others have hunkered down where they are. Communities like Los Naranjos, La Pita and Puerto Nuevo, South of San Carlos Lempa in Tecoluca, have been cut off since Friday, when the road flooded. These communities have sought refuge in community centers until the water recedes, but they have no access to food, water or other basic supplies. The only way to access these families, and bring them medicine and sustenance, is by boat.

Other communities face yet another problem—the places where they have sought shelter are “unofficial,” not recognized by the government. At these unofficial shelters, there is no government support for supplies. There are shelters throughout the country without enough food, drinking water or sanitation supplies (toilet paper, soap) to provide for people. The Human Rights Ombudsperon, Oscar Luna, has said that Civil Protection has not provided the assistance necessary for those affected. Meléndez, Director of Civil Protection, has confirmed that there are over 10,000 people in “unofficial” shelters who have received no government support.

The forecast predicts continuing rains today, October 19th, that will tail off as a cold front enters Central America. After the rains stop, it will be at least a few days for the waters to recede and people to return home.

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