USAID Responds to the Stan Disaster

USAID/Guatemala has been and continues to be an active player in the disaster relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts following Tropical Storm Stan, which hit Guatemala the week of October 4, 2005.

Several high-level visitors from the U.S. Government and corporate America came to Guatemala between October and December 2005 to review the damage and talk with the Guatemalan people who were directly affected and with relief organization leaders and government officials. Visitors included, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Latin America and Caribbean Bureau of USAID, Michael Magán; Ambassador Tony Hall, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in Rome; and, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Karen Hughes who toured Guatemala accompanied by PepsiCo's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Steven S. Reinemund, Deere & Co Chairman and CEO, Robert Lane, and Asset Management Advisors CEO, María Elena Lagomasino. Please see http://www.hurricaneaction.org for results of their important visit.

On October 4, Hurricane Stan made landfall in Mexico and generated separate tropical storms across southern Mexico and Central America. Stan spawned torrential rains that lasted for over five days causing widespread and severe flooding and deadly mudslides.

On October 5, the Government of Guatemala (GoG) declared a national disaster and U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala, James M. Derham followed suit by issuing a disaster declaration to trigger the release of U.S. emergency funds. On October 7, the GoG officially requested assistance from the international community and President Oscar Berger called for three days of mourning.

According to official reports, Stan-related floods killed an estimated 2,000 across Mexico and Central America. The highest death toll was in Guatemala, which suffered more than 900 landslides, some burying entire villages. Most of the dead were concentrated in the populous highland regions of Guatemala. A significant portion of country was hit hard by Stan: fifteen of the country’s 22 departments were affected, mostly the western highlands and south coast. Even prior to the Storm the highland areas were characterized by high poverty and malnutrition rates so these communities were especially vulnerable to the additional impacts of Stan. According to the GoG’s National Council for Disaster Reduction (CONRED), the most affected departments in terms of damage to infrastructure and land were: San Marcos, Solola, Escuintla, Quetzaltenango, Retalhuleu, Chimaltenango, Chiquimula, El Quiché, Huehuetenango, Guatemala, Sacatepéquez, Santa Rosa, and Suchitépquez. Of these, San Marcos was the most severely affected.

At least one-third of the national territory (about 36,000 square kilometers–larger than El Salvador) was affected, with varying degrees of damage to housing and public infrastructure reported in 251 of the country’s 331 municipalities. Stan hit the most productive and populated areas of the country and the GoG estimates that some 3.5 million Guatemalans (30% of total population) suffered either loss of life, property or access to basic services. Poor and marginalized groups--mainly indigenous women and children--who typically lack access to basic services were especially vulnerable to the impact of the disaster. Cases of hepatitis A and cholera caused by contaminated water were reported in affected communities as well as outbursts of violence in crowded temporary shelters.

The impact of Stan on Guatemala’s infrastructure and economy was daunting: roads, bridges, telecommunications, and energy infrastructure were destroyed leaving many communities out of touch and unreachable by disaster relief teams. The Ministry of Education reported that 485 schools were damaged or totally destroyed. The initial assessment of losses by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Non-Traditional Export Products Association (AGEXPRONT) was upwards of $530 million for the short- to medium-term, including the near complete loss of bananas and shrimp grown on the South Coast, and major losses in cattle, sugar crop, horticulture, and short cycle crops. This implied immediate loss of revenue and unemployment on a grand scale, both in the directly and indirectly affected areas that are the source of migrant workers. There were also immediate and significant losses in the tourism infrastructure in the towns around Lake Atitlán, Sololá and Quetzaltenango. The ECLAC damage assessment, issued on November 8, indicated that the overall economic impact of Stan was just shy of $1 billion.

AA USAID/Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) assessment team was on the ground immediately after the disaster struck and reported that the most urgent priorities for emergency assistance were health, water and sanitation, and shelter. The U.N. Joint Flash Appeal for $21.6 million issued October 10, 2005 highlighted the need for food, water, temporary shelter, bedding, essential medicines, and hygiene and sanitation facilities, as well as repair of public infrastructure. A group of international and local NGOs formed a coordinating committee, which included a rotating CONRED representative, and worked to identify relief and rehabilitation needs and to ensure coordination of assistance over the initial post-Stan period. NGO members included but were not limited to: CARE, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Mercy Corps, Red Cross International, Save the Children and SHARE/Guatemala.

On October 10, General Craddock, head of U.S. military Southern Command visited Guatemala and committed to keep nine U.S. military helicopters working on emergency relief activities and to bring in transport planes and more equipment, as well as continue search and rescue efforts to relief, supply, and technical assessments. Between October 11 and 17, the team had delivered 161 tons of food, medical supplies and communications equipment, evacuated 41 people, and flown Guatemalan firefighters, aid workers and doctors to communities in need. Immediate emergency relief efforts were seriously hampered by ongoing rain and low cloud cover. Many remote communities were cut off by damaged roads, telecommunications, swollen rivers and mudslides. Helicopters were essential in working to get supplies to these communities. USAID/OFDA, USAID/Guatemala and the U.S. military coordinate closely with CONRED for transport and distribution of relief commodities to affected communities. The U.S. military team that arrived in country to provide humanitarian assistance departed Guatemala on October 26.

US Military Assistance:

Inter-American Foundation (IAF):

Animal and Plant Health Service (APHIS):

Total USG Assistance (to date)
$16,835,392

By late October, the attention of the GoG and international donors began to turn to the country’s reconstruction needs. On November 8, ECLAC that estimated the overall economic impact of Stan at just under $1 billion. The report’s recommendations for the short-term include the continuing need for emergency food assistance, restoring productive capacity for the most vulnerable and exposed populations, rebuilding housing and closing emergency shelters, and repairing local roads and small irrigation infrastructure to re-start production and allow products to get to market. In the medium-term, the assessment identifies the need to rebuild and establish early warning systems and community-based prevention programs, improve watershed management, and develop Central American regional risk management instruments.

TThe GoG presented a reconstruction plan and requested international donor agency assistance to implement it. The GoG is moving forward on a number of reconstruction initiatives and has signed an agreement with a local civil society organization to allow it to audit its reconstruction programs and expenditures. (Visit June 24, 2006 at USAID News for local press coverage of the presentation.)

USAID/Guatemala is moving forward with a reconstruction plan for the San Marcos area that was one of the heaviest hit regions and concurrently working to identify sources of funding. The overarching goals of the USAID Stan-related reconstruction efforts are consistent with our three Strategic Objectives--to strengthen local government responsiveness (in this case, to victims of Stan), promote rural economic growth, and invest in and safeguard public health. More specifically, our objective is to help affected persons in San Marcos and surrounding areas to rebuild their lives and livelihoods by: helping local governments in reconstruction planning and implementation; to promote community healing and reconstruction through the recovery of bodies buried by the landslides and provision of mental health services to families of the victims; increasing sources of rural income and employment for affected families, and protecting human health by increasing access to potable water through rebuilding of water and sanitation infrastructure, and extending a national epidemiological surveillance system to Stan-affected areas.

The USAID/Guatemala Reconstruction Program is scheduled to be complemented by some emergency and re-directed food assistance, and private sector funds that will be raised through the Hurricane Relief Fund. These private funds will be directed to scholarships for school children and reconstruction of infrastructure in Guatemala.

The U.S. Government, together with leaders of corporate America are also working to raise funds and other support for reconstruction (see www.hurricaneaction.org for details).

USAID Disaster Assistance: Guatemala - Flood Index

Acción Ciudadana: Monitoreo y Auditoría Social del Programa de Reconstrucción Nacional
Primer Informe | Segundo Informe

10/06/05 - The U.S. Government Donates Assistance and Provides Helicopters for Emergency Relief - U.S. Embassy Guatemala

http://guatemala.usembassy.gov/pbe20051008.html

10/10/05 - General Craddock Visits Guatemala, Commits Further U.S. Assistance - U.S. Embassy Guatemala