A landslide recorded over the weekend in a rural community in western El Salvador that left at least three dead, including an 18-month-old baby and a 7-year-old girl, has raised alerts due to the consequences of the storm that affects to that Central American country. Local authorities have recorded at least 14 deaths due to the heavy rains that keep the small nation flooded, where President Nayib Bukele has decreed a state of emergency for 15 days and a national holiday for Tuesday in order to “reduce the risk of tragedies.” ”. Almost 600 Salvadorans have been left homeless, while heavy rains affect all Central American countries.
The storm began on Friday with intense rains that have caused flooding, river flooding, strong waves and landslides such as the one that occurred in the small community of Tacuba, in the Salvadoran province of Ahuchapán, about 125 kilometers from San Salvador, the capital. . Three members of a family were buried by the violent wave of mud. The victims are Luis Ernesto Godínez Guzmán, 23 years old; Estuardo Vladimir Godínez, 18 months old; and Jennifer Yamileth Godínez, 7 years old. His relatives organized the wake on Monday in the midst of the chaos that the storm has created in that community.
Rosa Guzmán, mother and grandmother of the deceased, story to the local newspaper The printing press that the entire family was inside the house when the landslide hit the house during the early hours of Monday. “A neighbor came when he heard that they were asking for help. They called the Red Cross and the Police, but they did not arrive later,” the woman complained in a video recorded by the newspaper in the small town church where the bodies of the victims were laid to rest. The director of Civil Protection, Luis Anaya, has reported that 46 landslides have been recorded in different areas of El Salvador. The rains have already left 14 dead in various parts of the small Central American country.
Several Salvadoran cities were flooded this Monday due to the storm. President Bukele has announced that, in addition to the state of emergency, it has sent a request to the National Assembly to declare Tuesday a day of paid national leave for all public and private sector employees. Bukele has said that the measure aims to keep the population in their homes, “not having to travel to workplaces and reduce the risk of tragedies.” The General Directorate of Civil Protection, in charge of the response to the emergency, has decreed this Monday the red alert, the maximum in the face of natural disasters, because the meteorological authorities have reported that the storm will continue in the coming days. The Minister of the Interior, Juan Carlos Bidegaín, spoke this Monday of “a significant accumulation of water that leads us to not let our guard down.” The official has asked the population not to leave their homes unless “it is absolutely necessary” and recalled that the Government has been mobilized in its entirety to guarantee “an immediate response” to the emergency. Bidegaín has said that they have set up 117 shelters to care for the victims and people who must be evacuated from risk areas. “Evacuation is mandatory,” the minister stressed. As of this Monday, there were 324 families in the shelters.
The rains also affect the rest of the countries in the region. The Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies (Ineter) has reported that the storm will hit the country throughout the week, although no victims have yet been recorded. Local authorities have suspended naval activities in seaports and on the country’s lakes and rivers and have warned of the possibility of flooding and landslides. The National Meteorological Institute of Costa Rica has also reported that the “downpours” will continue to affect that country, while in Honduras the Secretariat of National Risk and Contingency Management declared a yellow alert in seven of the country’s 18 provinces and a green one. , prevention, for another four, reports Efe. Authorities throughout the region are on alert following the latest reports from the United States National Hurricane Center, that foresees the formation of a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico in the middle of this week, which will cause more rain in a region that is very vulnerable to climate change and where the blow of hurricanes Eta and Iota still resonates, which in 2020 affected more than nine million people.
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