Flooding kills 40 in El Salvador

[dipsydoodle]

At least 40 people have been killed in El Salvador by flooding caused by days of heavy rain, the government says

The authorities have declared a state of emergency in five regions and expect to find more victims, Interior Minister Humberto Centeno told reporters.

News of the deaths came as Hurricane Ida was poised to enter the Gulf of Mexico, experts warned.

Ida, which passed to the east of El Salvador three days ago, is not thought to have caused the severe rains.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8349333.stm

[EFerrari]

1. Just spoke to my uncle in Sal Salvador. I thought he said FOUR people.

:(

[dipsydoodle]

2. Now updated to 124 deaths

At least 124 people have been killed in El Salvador by flooding and landslides following days of heavy rain, the government says.

President Mauricio Funes has declared a national emergency, describing the damage as "incalculable".

The capital San Salvador and central San Vicente province were hardest hit.

Mud and boulders buried homes and cars in the small town of Verapaz, where rescuers dug into the night - some with their bare hands - to find survivors.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8349333.stm

[Judi Lynn]

4. Hoping all your relations, acquaintances have not been harmed. They've been through a nightmare.

Having beautiful landscape is an unbearable threat places like Florida have never had to withstand. A hurricane becomes far more than flat winds and rain when it becomes compounded by mountains melting and engulfing people and their homes during the downpour, on top of the flooding.

Unbelievable catastrophe.

[EFerrari]

6. My uncle's immediate family are okay, TGness.

But, we're making calls about the extended and theirs and theirs. The poor always get counted last. :(

[Judi Lynn]

3. Hunt for survivors in hurricane-hit El Salvador

Hunt for survivors in hurricane-hit El Salvador
09/11 10:03 CET

Emergency crews are desperately searching for survivors in El Salvador after Hurricane Ida swept across the country triggering floods and mudslides. Close to 130 people have been killed and dozens more remain unaccounted for.

Parts of the town of Verapaz were buried in mud. One man said: “It all came down on us. There was a truck parked over there and it was swept away. I could see how hight the water was when it took it. I was trapped inside the house. I couldn’t get out in any direction.”

Hurricane Ida has caused damage in other countries as it barrels across the region, but El Salvador has been hit hardest. In some places entire communities have been swept away by flashing flooding.

The torrential rain that has fallen relentlessly for three days in the mountainous terrain has been funnelled into low-lying areas with devastating consequences.

http://www.euronews.net/2009/11/09/hunt-for-survivors-in-hurricane-hit-el-salvador/

[Judi Lynn]

5. Rescuers dig for survivors in buried Salvador town

Rescuers dig for survivors in buried Salvador town
AP
Monday 9th November, 2009 Posted: 15:57 CIT (20:57 GMT)

VERAPAZ, El Salvador (AP) – Soldiers and residents dug through rock and debris looking for dozens of people missing when a mudslide covered a town in El Salvador, part of a wave of flooding and landslides that has killed at least 124 people in this Central American country.

Days of heavy rains, indirectly linked to Hurricane Ida’s passage through the region, caused mud and boulders to sweep down the side of the Chichontepec volcano before dawn Sunday, burying homes and cars in the town of Verapaz, about 30 miles outside the capital, San Salvador.

Homes, streets and cars were swallowed by the mud in the town of about 3,000 inhabitants.

"It was terrible. The rocks came down on top of the houses and split them in two, and split the pavement," said Manuel Melendez, 61, who whose home was destroyed. "I heard people screaming all around."

Amid a persistent drizzle, rescuers dug frantically for survivors late Sunday with shovels and even their bare hands. But the search was made difficult by collapsed walls, boulders and downed power lines that blocked heavy machinery.

President Mauricio Funes declared a national emergency and called the damages incalculable.

More:
http://www.caycompass.com/cgi-bin/CFPnews.cgi?ID=10386970

[Judi Lynn]

7. Floods kill 144 in El Salvador

Floods kill 144 in El Salvador
Published: 10/11/2009 at 11:52 PM

Rescue workers in El Salvador on Tuesday tried to reach dozens of towns cut off by torrents of mud and debris unleashed by devastating late-season storms that killed at least 144 people.

The total number of dead rose to 144, civil protection authorities said after landslides and overflowing rivers swept away homes, while a raging torrent ripped through part of the town of Verapaz, where bodies _ covered in mud-caked sheets _ were stored in a local chapel, waiting to be identified.

Rescue efforts focused on the eastern San Vicente department, where 72 people were still missing after three days of driving rain, 60 of them in Verapaz alone, officials said late Monday.

"The problem here in finding bodies is removing all these rocks and trees,'' Carlos Arce, 27, told AFP in what remained of his town of 6,800 after the storm.

"The floods took away people, houses and destroyed the crops,'' said Javier Martinez, a local farmer.
The number of people seeking emergency shelter dropped slightly to 12,930, a civil protection official said, while 1,800 homes were damaged or destroyed and 18 bridges and many roads were washed away by the floods.

More:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/159691/floods-kill-144-in-el-salvador