Record rains wreak havoc in El Salvador

Human tragedy has roots in what Archbishop Oscar Romero denounced as the idolatry of private property

Christians for Peace in El Salvador recently completed its annual board meeting in San Salvador. All board members and staff were deeply moved by the plight of the Salvadoran people in the wake of a severe rain storm that rocked the nation in early November. We want more people in North America to become familiar with the challenges as well as the hopes of that country. Therefore, we are expanding our readership to those who we hope will be interested in El Salvador. We extend a welcome to new readers and reaffirm the faithful support of our established subscribers. An account of the current crisis in El Salvador is presented below by Antonio Cañas, CRISPAZ country coordinator in El Salvador. -- The CRISPAZ Board of Directors

On the evening of Saturday, Nov. 7, El Salvador was on high alert for Hurricane Ida, a storm that already had caused severe damage in neighboring Nicaragua. During the morning and afternoon, the weather was like any normal day during the rainy season. Around 9 p.m., however, a strong rain began to fall upon the central region of the country, maintaining its uninterrupted intensity for nearly four hours. It continued to rain well into the early hours of Sunday, Nov. 8.

As dawn broke on Sunday, the magnitude of the storm’s damage slowly was revealed. The rains fell with most intensity where the Departments of San Vincente, La Paz and San Salvador intersect, and it was in this region that the damage was greatest and where the majority of the storm’s victims were found. In the town of Verapaz, in San Vincente, a landslide tumbled down the side of the Chinchontepec volcano, burying much of the village with mud and huge boulders.

A similar fate befell nearby Tepetitán.

While rescue workers struggled to pull victims from mud and rubble, reports from across the country indicated the intensity of this disaster: nearly 200 people dead and 78 missing from 42 towns and villages; an estimated 14,000 displaced from their homes; and about 5,000 people  with homes and possessions destroyed completely. Official reports state that there were dozens of storm-related incidents, including 13 large floods and 12 sites where rivers overflowed their banks. In just a few hours nearly 12 inches of rain fell in areas hit hardest, more rain-per-hour than when Hurricane Mitch struck Central America in 1998.

Damages are estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars and include the destruction of 24 bridges, with an additional 18 such structures severely damaged. Official reports show that 288 homes were destroyed, and another 291 were severely damaged. In addition, 103 schools and 24 public health centers were damaged and numerous stretches of roadway will need to be either repaired or replaced. In addition to all this destruction, entire water-supply systems, mile-upon-mile of electric lines and telephone lines, and the loss of entire corn and bean crops have only added to the misery of those who lost family and friends to the storm. Many of the affected areas were declared to be health emergencies due to the decomposition of bodies buried in landslides.

The cause of the disaster

The destruction and loss of human lives in El Salvador Nov. 8 was not just the work of nature. The lack of a substantial safety net for all Salvadorans, especially for the poor, added to the tragedy. For example, many of the victims living near rivers and next to ravines succumbed to the violence of a storm like Ida, the type of socio-natural devastation that has visited El Salvador many times before.

Some residents of Verapaz recalled the disaster that struck nearby Tepetitán in 1934, when torrents of rainwater hurled onto the village’s center, then located on the bed of an old ravine downstream from the Chinchotepec volcano. While residents of Tepetitán moved their village center from that dangerous location, Verapaz paid the price of still being situated squarely in a high-risk location with the lives and homes of many of its residents.

This lack of precaution and planning for El Salvador’s vulnerable population ultimately has its roots in what Archbishop Oscar A. Romero denounced as the idolatry of private property, a “right” that is exercised over the right to life and dignity of all, especially the poor. We were reminded of Monsignor Romero’s words only two months ago, when a business leader blocked legislation in the National Assembly that would have addressed property use for “home development” that results in dangerously placed structures erected by the poor on the fringes, at the edges of ravines and along riversides throughout the nation. The argument made was that state intervention was, in effect, a crime against the “sacred right of private property of all Salvadorans.” And so, once again, hundreds of Salvadorans lost their lives and thousands more lost their small plots of land for this “idolatry.”

And although business people and powerful landowners have the right to protect their property from “arbitrary expropriation,” El Salvador must have some rational plan of Territorial Development that protects the poor from being exposed to the natural dangers that are common in El Salvador. The responsibility for this lack of foresight and planning must be acknowledged by previous governments and economic powers who have the ability to shape the laws of the country. Meanwhile, as a new state struggles to emerge in El Salvador, we all must pay close attention to the suffering, pain and need of the victims of Hurricane Ida.

It is with all these things in mind that we at CRISPAZ invite you today to join in solidarity with the victims of this tragedy by donating to Catholic Relief Services, a leading bright light in this time of darkness for El Salvador. CRS is working in areas most affected by the storm, and it is operating in direct coordination with the authorities of President Maricio Funes’ new government. Donations can be made through the CRS Web site, and a note can be added to direct your donation to El Salvador flood relief.

Interestingly, the Funes government has pledged that it is dedicated to assisting all victims of the storm, and that it will provide assistance for home reconstruction only in locations that are not at risk for other similar disasters.

Submitted by Antonio Cañas
CRISPAZ El Salvador Country Coordinator

Top Photo: courtesy photo of flooding in Verapaz in San Vincente.
Bottom Photo : photo by Karen Ramos of damaged bridge along the road from San Salvador to Chalatanego