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Hundreds stranded after floods hit El Salvador
Written by: Anastasia Moloney
Residents wade through the Huiza river after the collapse of a bridge in the coastal town of La Libertad, 45 km south of San Salvador, November 9, 2009. REUTERS/Luis Galdamez
BOGOTA (AlertNet) - Hundreds of flood victims remain stranded and some communities are cut off from aid assistance following days of heavy rains that killed 124 people in El Salvador, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said on Monday. Torrential rains in recent days, a result of a low pressure system in the Pacific, have caused rivers to burst their banks and hillsides to collapse, leading to severe flooding and widespread damage to the Central American country's infrastructure. "The flooding has left a lot of communities disconnected and the damage to some communities has not yet been assessed. We expect the number of flood victims to increase," Ghotai Ghazialam, disaster management delegate for IFRC's Pan-American disaster response unit told AlertNet by phone from Panama. Landslides have blocked main roads and at least nine bridges have collapsed in the five worst affected provinces, cutting off some parts of the mountainous interior from the rest of the country and hampering emergency response efforts. Large areas of El Salvador are without electricity or clean water. El Salvador's president Mauricio Funes has declared a national emergency, describing the floods as a "tragedy". The government estimates at least 124 people have been killed and over 7,000 uprooted by the floods, while 60 people are missing. The government has allocated $500,000 to provide basic assistance to affected communities, and has set up 25 temporary shelters in schools and sports buildings, where around 1,200 flood victims are seeking refuge. The country's armed forces have rescued over 180 people. Staff and volunteers from the Salvadorean Red Cross have been mobilised to the most affected areas and air rescue units are searching for the missing. Local teams have also begun initial damage assessments of infrastructure and homes. "We have a regional response person on the ground and we are working to get to aid to affected families besides non-food items. Hygiene kits, kitchen utensils and blankets have been sent to 1,500 families," said Ghazialam from IFRC. So far, the IFRC has released nearly $183,000 from its emergency response funds to help El Salvador's flood victims. Local press reports say the government has been slow to respond to the country's crisis. President Funes, who came to power last June, has blamed previous governments for the lack of disaster prevention measures in place. "The drama we are facing and the precarious situation communities face in large areas of the country is because of the lack of mitigation and risk prevention programmes, which for years had been demanded but were never carried out," Funes said during a public address on Sunday. Nicaraguahas also been battered by recent heavy rains. Around 2,700 families have been affected and 930 houses damaged or destroyed, says the IFRC
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