Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Guatemala City (Agenzia Fides) – In just two days, Guatemala has suffered losses comparable to those resulting from the week-long passage of Tropical Storm Agatha last May. The government led by Alvaro Colom Caballeros has declared a state of emergency as the number of flood victims is now at more than 40,000. Guatemala is a poor country, without the necessary means and funds to respond to a tragedy of these proportions. According to the spokesman for CONRED (National Coordination for Disaster Reduction), the death toll has risen to 45, but this tragic number is on the rise as the number of missing increases. The spokesman added that 56 were seriously injured, while 11,000 people have fled their homes and another 9,000 were already accommodated in hotels.
The tragedy within the tragedy, local press sources report, occurred on the Panamerican highway (at Totonicapán), where a bus full of people, rescue workers included, stuck in the mud and trying to get out, was swept away. It seems that a gigantic mudslide swept away everything and everyone. According to meteorologists, the heavy rains are the result of the weather phenomenon "La Niña."
Caritas Guatemala sent Fides an initial report on the disaster and appealed for international help. According to the report, areas with the greatest damage are Escuintla, Suchitepéquez, and Retalhuleu, where the government has decreed the "red alert." The report lists the places with the worst damage: Cruz del Valle, San Cristobal Acasaguastlán, El Progreso (where a bridge has collapsed). There are two large landslides, one at the 226 km mark on the highway between Joyabay and Canilla, in Quiche, the other at the 84.5 km mark on the highway that leads from Casillas, Santa Rosa, to Jalapa. 8 more landslides are considered serious, including one in the area of San Juan Las Flores in Sansare, another in San Felipe La Tabla, which has completely blocked the road, and another in Vegona, La Union. In the department of El Progreso, there are other landslides in Estación Jalapa, San Agustín, Acasaguastlán, and another in La Línea, in Guastatoya.
In the village of Tablon de Cayur, Olopa, Chiquimula, the landslide has forced nearly all the inhabitants to abandon the place and even schools have been damaged. In San Rafael, a road has been blocked following the collapse of a ramp. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 07/09/2010)
