Attachments
A. Situation analysis
Description of the disaster
Tropical Storm Julia formed in the Caribbean Sea, near the coast of Colombia, on 7 October 2022. Julia then strengthened into a category 1 hurricane as it tracked westward in the evening of 8 October in the southwestern Caribbean before making landfall in Nicaragua, on the morning of 9 October. Tropical Storm Julia lost wind intensity while over the rugged terrain of Nicaragua and was downgraded to a tropical storm late in the morning of 9 October. It continued to lose strength on 10 October and eventually became a tropical depression near the coasts of El Salvador and Guatemala.
As Tropical Storm Julia moved westward, Nicaragua and surrounding nations in Central America were slammed by torrential rainfall and wind gusts on 9 October. El Salvador received the impact of tropical storm Julia, which entered the national territory in the early morning of 10 October with winds between 40 to 70 km/h.
The rainfall record indicates that in the department of La Libertad there were 182.4 mm3; in Panchimalco 203.8 mm3; in Guatajiagua, Morazán 166 mm3 and in the municipalities of Caluco, Izalco and Armenia in the department of Sonsonate 112.4 mm3 of precipitation in 24 hours.
El Salvador, with 6.6 million inhabitants in just 20,742 km2 of territory, is vulnerable to hydro-meteorological phenomena; a situation that is compounded by the fact that 87% of the population has limited economic resources. This scenario is further complicated by the clogging of drains and sewers caused by littering and the deforestation that results in less water absorption from the soil, which saturates the roads.
According to need assessment reports from the Salvadorean Red Cross Society, there are currently 10 reported deaths, all male, and more than 9,000 people affected. There have been at least 53 large-scale floods in various parts of the country, affecting residential areas such as Colonia Santa Lucía de Ilopango, Santa Tecla, Villa Lourdes, in the municipality of Colón, among other places. Colonia Milagro de la Paz, La Canoa community, sector of Laguna de Jocotal in San Miguel.
The Ministry of Public Works (MOP, by its Spanish acronym) reported that they have deployed 50 crews, who are working to clear 34 roads due to landslides, the most affected being the Santa Ana and Los Chorros roads. In addition, work is being done to clear streets due to fallen trees.
The main impact due to the accumulated rains of the last few days include:
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Livelihoods: 10,000 manzanas (7,000 hectares) of basic grain and vegetable crops have been lost nationwide, as well as poultry farming, fishing, livestock, and community enterprises, among others. Through a preliminary Emergency Food Security Assessment conducted within 72 hours of the storm's impact, WFP estimates that 180,000 people who were already acutely food insecure were affected by the rains in areas with rainfall above 150 millimetres.
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Infrastructure: 440 homes were affected at national level, of which 162 were affected in the municipality of San Miguel alone, with partial damage to infrastructure and, to a lesser extent, total damage to housing. In addition, 162 access roads are obstructed by flooding and landslides4. Some schools have also been damaged by the effect of flooding in low-lying areas of the country (seacoasts), and 1.1 million students have stopped classes between 10 and 11 October.
According to the sectoral situation report 1 of the Humanitarian Country Group, published on 17 October, as of 12 October, some 2,837 people were housed in 120 active shelters in different areas of the country, comprising approximately 950 families. These shelters have been set up with the minimum conditions necessary for the care of the affected families.
It is a priority to support the shelters to have all the resources to maintain the minimum conditions of comfort and hygiene, but with the proper protection, mainly because there are still risks due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the protection and biosecurity measures for the staff supporting the action and the sheltered people must still be taken care of. Although the storm has weakened, a situation of persistent rain continues due to the remnants of the recent storm in some areas. Also of concern in the health sector is the increase in respiratory infections, diarrhoea, dengue, chikungunya and zika, among others, with the limitations that the national health system is working to prevent and combat.