AMERICA/GUATEMALA - “Many families have lost all they had to live on”

Guatemala City (Agenzia Fides) – Caritas Guatemala has sent Fides a new report detailing the situation after the terrible tragedy of the torrential rains that caused extensive damage throughout the country (see Fides 07/09/2010).
As of the time of the report, there are 44 dead and 14,291 flood refugees, of these 44, only 23 were killed in the landslide at the 171 km mark on the Panamerican highway route in Totonicapán. There are also 43,000 people who have fled their homes and 16 are missing. A national emergency has been declared and the "red alert" areas are Escuintla, Suchitepéquez, and Retalhuleu.
The Caritas report said that "the passage of the hurricanes and storms (Agatha, Alex, and Frank), through the vulnerable rural communities in the country, has left a large amount of farming families homeless, without fields to cultivate, and without animals. Many others who lived near the river have lost almost everything. The situation is even more critical for the future, as many families in losing their crop have lost the resources of an entire year's work." The poorest workers who were employed on farms or to work the land, now no longer work and cannot feed their families. "There is also a health problem, especially for the elderly and children. The most difficult part of this emergency situation is experienced by the poorest of the poor," the report concluded.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Health of Guatemala issued a statement on dengue: 25 have died since the beginning of the year due to the disease. The statement said that of the 11,800 suspected cases, 1,925 have been confirmed, 123 of which are serious cases.
The Caritas report also offers a detailed list of flooded towns and the names of the communities involved, with the number of families and damages suffered. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 08/09/2010)