Salvador: State of National Emergency, Inclement Weather
Salvadorians Civil Defense Forces, June 17, 2024 Photo: @ElSalvadorENx
June 17, 2024 Hour: 1:53 pm
From the early hours of Sunday morning until 04:30 on Monday, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) reported an accumulated rainfall of 307.6 millimeters in the district of Apaneca in the department of Ahuachapán, a figure that could reach 700 in other areas of the country in the coming days.
On Monday, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador approved a State of National Emergency at the request of President Nayib Bukele in view of the inclement weather affecting the country today.
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Salvadorans have been on high alert (red) since Sunday due to heavy rains and the development of Tropical Depression 19-E, located southwest of the coast of El Salvador, which led to the decree of emergency for 15 days.
From the early hours of Sunday morning until 04:30 on Monday, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) reported an accumulated rainfall of 307.6 millimeters in the district of Apaneca in the department of Ahuachapán, a figure that could reach 700 in other areas of the country in the coming days.
This increases the threat of landslides and mudslides which, according to the ministry’s Hazards Observatory, has a probability of 80 to 100 per cent, causing damage to road and housing infrastructure in the Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain range, something that has increased in some areas in the west due to the occurrence of small earthquakes.
Also in this period, an accumulated rainfall of 205.6 millimeters was recorded at the El Imposible station in San Francisco Menéndez, also in Ahuachapán, while Los Naranjos, Juayúa, in Sonsonate, reported 166.4 millimeters.
In many areas of the Salvadoran territory, the accumulated rainfall is well over 100 millimeters. The day before, President Bukele asked people who must be evacuated to follow the instructions of Civil Protection and allow them to be sheltered in shelters prepared for their well-being.
We ask the Salvadoran population to take all necessary precautions and not to put their lives at risk. We must all do our part; the president wrote on his X account.
The weather situation is tense in most of Central America, so the Autonomous Executive Port Commission (CEPA) reported, for example, that the San Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport in San Luis Talpa, West La Paz, is receiving alternate flights from other countries because some airports in the region had difficulties.
Meanwhile, the Mesa Agropecuaria reported the death of cattle after being swept away by the overflowing of the Grande River in San Miguel, in the east of the country, where at least 20 head of cattle suffered the same fate.
We have been in pure drought and now we are in pure floods. But we are warning everyone to get their livestock out of the creeks or rivers. In the next few days this is going to be a calamity,” said a Mesa director.
Autor: OSG
Fuente: The Independent-The Star
