Sequence of events: Volcano Pacaya eruption, Tropical Storm Agatha
Guatemala hit by volcano eruption and tropical storm Agatha. The Volcano Pacaya eruption occurred last Wednesday with a 2 thousand meter high column of sand, rooks and ashes. Last Thursday Tropical storm Agatha hit Guatemala. The damages reported so far are 64, 383 people in temporary shelters, reported by Guatemala's National Disaster Commission, CONRED, 152 deaths, 87 injured, 100 people still reported missing, 128, 149 people suffered damages. 5, 872 houses are at risk and at least 21, 927 houses are damaged. 18 bridges have collapsed. All mayor roads of the country have been affected by mudslides, landslides and falling rooks. One meter of rain fell in 72 hours. The Guatemalan Government response has been very fast and efficient so far. Yesterday and today, the collapsed infrastructure, roads and bridges are a mayor obstacle to speed up help and rescue operations. International aid, EU will donate 3 million Euros, the US is donating 1.1 $ US million.
Volcano Pacaya eruptionWednesday 26 of May, volcano Pacaya erupted with a 2 thousand meter high column of sand, rooks and ashes. The eruption of the volcano affected surrounding areas as far as 100 kilometers away, including Guatemala City. The airport in Guatemala's capital was shut down immediately; it has been opened until today. Over 80 thousand passengers where affected by the flight cancelations.
Eruptions on a smaller scale have continued to this day. The National Institute of Seismological, Meteorological and Hydrology, INSIVUMEH, (Instituto Nacional de Sismología, Vulcanología, Meteorología e Hidrología) has issued warnings since last week that another violent eruption could take place in coming days. Other cities where affected in the southern coast area, Esquintla, Palin and others.
Guatemala City is located 25 kilometers away from the volcano Pacaya. The amount of heavy volcano sand and ashes that hit the city was impossible to clean up in one day. In the immediate area of the volcano the eruption caused severe damage to houses, infrastructure and crops. Journalist Anibal Archila was killed while filming the event near the crater of the volcano. At least two other deaths where reported. The eruption damaged approximately 800 homes and up to 2,000 people had to be evacuated immediately to temporary shelters. President Colom declared state of calamity for the affected areas.
Tropical Storm Agatha
The next day, Thursday 27 of May, Tropical storm Agatha started to cause rainfall, at first it was a relatively benign rainfall, it continued for the next 48 hours, on Saturday suddenly the behavior of the rainfall changed, in a period of 4 hours approximately the volume of the rainfall increased to extreme levels, a total of one meter of rainwater poured down in 3 days. INSIVUMEH is prognosticating new rains for Thursday, June 3, 2010.
Combined devastating effect of volcano eruption and Agatha
The sand and ashes of the volcano plugged and obstructed the drainage systems in a 100 km radius, including Guatemala City. The water started to cause flooding everywhere.
In the rest of the country, the rivers, lakes and drainage systems had become over saturated by the rainfall of the first 48 hours, when the increased rainfall hit on Saturday the water caused unprecedented damage, violent flooding of rivers and lakes started to affect the people living at the river banks and lake shores. Also, the number of landslides and mudslides increased dramatically, killing hundreds of people who where buried by the mud or where swept away by the water currents and drowned.
All of Guatemala's mayor roads where severely damaged, traffic flow was interrupted by landslides and mudslides and washed out roads. Bridges collapsed due to the violent increase of the volume of the rivers, many communities where left isolated without roads, electricity and water supply.
Yesterday and today, the collapsed infrastructure, roads and bridges are a mayor obstacle to speed up help and rescue operations.
Current status of casualties and damages:
64, 383 people are in temporary shelters according to the latest updates of Guatemala's National Disaster Commission, CONRED, there are 152 deaths and 87 injured reported so far. 100 people are still reported missing, 128, 149 people have suffered damages. 5, 872 houses are at risk an at least 21, 927 houses are damaged according to the latest figures of CONRED.
Infrastructure:
18 bridges have collapsed. All mayor roads of the country have been affected by mudslides, landslides and falling rooks from unstable man made slopes during road construction. There also have been washouts of roads due to heavy volume of rainwater.
Guatemala's Vice- Minister of Infrastructure, Byron Paiz ( Ministerio de Comunicaciones) gave an interview this morning with Radio Emisoras Unidas. He stated that the ministry is working with all its resources to re-establish the traffic on the roads affected by the tropical storm. Many communities are still isolated. The priority is to habilitate at least one lane on the most important roads of the country to facilitate transportation of basic goods and food. Private road construction companies have been helping the government in the efforts to clean the roads since Saturday.
Health:
The Minster of Health Dr. Edwin Ovalle expressed his concerns yesterday that the stagnant water and contaminated water sources can cause severe epidemics. The Ministry of Health is one of the most under funded ministries in Guatemala, as is the case in most developing countries. Worries of spread of diseases like dengue in the coastal areas, but also at higher altitudes, are causing grave concerns in the public health system.
Government response:
The government of President Alvaro Colom´s response to this disaster has been much better then what has been observed in the previous governments. For example during hurricane Stan in 2005 that happened during ex- President Oscar Berger's term, the government ´s response was abysmal. CONRED, Guatemala's National Disaster Commission has been strengthened and is more professional now after Hurricane Stan caused more than 1,500 deaths in the country in 2005. The international community supported the institutional strengthening and technification of CONRED and other institutions related to weather reporting, risk management and management of environmental risk due to climate change.
AID Efforts:
Yesterday, Kristalina Georgieva, the European commissioner for humanitarian aid stated today that the EU would disburse €3m of humanitarian aid to help Central American governments respond to the effects of the storm. "When disaster strikes, action must be taken rapidly," said Kristalina Georgieva, the European commissioner for humanitarian aid. The US government is donating approximately US $ 1.1 million as immediate relief effort.
International NGO´s in Guatemala and local companies and organizations are doing their own efforts of fund raising and direct aid efforts for the affected communities. The coordination efforts of external international aid, NGO´s, churches and other entities are under way.
Crops affected:
It is expected that 60% of the coffee production surrounding the affected area will be lost. Whole citrus orchards have disappeared around the Motagua River, Tilapia farms have dissapeared as are other crops.
Currently the government is consolidating the data of the economic impact of both the volcano activity and Tropical storm Agatha.
Forcast: This is just the beginning of what is being called the worst hurricane season in 50 years. Guatemala is on of the worlds 10 most affected countries by climate change, it is therefore extremely vulnerable to storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcano eruptions and other natural disasters.
Pictures: Presidential Press Office Guatemala
