El Salvador

USAID/OFDA distributes emergency relief supplies following flooding and landslides in El Salvador in October 2011.

Save the Children

Flooding and landslides affected an estimated 300,000 people in El Salvador following heavy rainfall in October 2011, according to the U.N.  President Mauricio Funes declared a state of national emergency on October 14, and the Government of El Salvador (GoES) closed schools and evacuated vulnerable communities from areas threatened by landslides.  The GoES Civil Protection Agency reported that nearly 56,000 people were evacuated to more than 260 emergency shelters.  

USG HUMANITARIAN FUNDING PROVIDED IN FY 2012

*(As of August 30, 2012)

Central America Floods Fact Sheet #5 (331kb PDF)

Key Developments

On October 16, 2011, U.S. Ambassador Mari Carmen Aponte declared a disaster due to the extent of flooding and the number of people affected.  In response, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) provided an initial $50,000 through USAID/El Salvador to the GoES Civil Protection Agency for local procurement and distribution of non-food emergency relief commodities, including hygiene kits, kitchen sets, and fuel.  USAID/OFDA also authorized the GoES to distribute nearly 3,000 pre-positioned hygiene kits to affected populations, and airlifted additional relief supplies, including 10,200 ten-liter water containers, nearly 10,000 additional hygiene kits, 2,500 blankets, more than 1,000 kitchen sets, and 100 rolls of reinforced plastic sheeting from its warehouse in Miami to the capitol city of San Salvador. 

In response to persisting flood-related water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) needs in El Salvador, USAID/OFDA provided nearly $196,000 in assistance through Catholic Relief Services (CRS) for the rehabilitation of wells and other WASH infrastructure in El Salvador’s Usulután Department.  The program also promoted hygiene practices and training to strengthen household resiliency to future flooding. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 to date, total U.S. Government (USG) assistance to El Salvador is $662,081.