A tropical depression in the Central Pacific region unleashed its full force on Guatemala in mid-October, causing serious flooding and landslides impacting ChildFund programmes.
ChildFund Guatemala’s emergency response focuses on sponsored and enrolled children living in the affected states of Huehuetenango, Retalhuleu, Santa Rosa, Chimaltenango, Solola, San Marcos and Quetzaltenango. We had currently identified approximately 150 families adversely affected. Some were without food and water. Others have flooded homes. A few families’ homes have collapsed.
Our first response is providing water, food and some medical support. In addition, ChildFund is coordinating with UNICEF and CONRED (an emergency response body) to provide temporary shelters and monitor child protection. A network of child-related organizations is convening to ensure the special needs of children are being met as part of the emergency response.
Because the storm destroyed many staple crops (e.g., corn and beans), humanitarian organizations and governmental agencies are concerned about food security in the coming months, specifically January through April. Given that malnutrition is prevalent in many of the areas affected by the storm, ensuring a steady supply of food going forward is a critical concern.
Other factors have augmented the damaging impact of this latest storm, including the lasting consequences of tropical storm Agatha, which battered the country in 2010, causing widespread damage and saturating subsoil and thus weakening its long-term stability. Further, much of the population lives in high-risk and vulnerable locations close to rivers and in mountainous areas on steep slopes prone to landslides.
Most roads are either partially or totally blocked due to landslides as rain-saturated soil has given way. Saturation levels are considerably higher those experienced during Hurricane Stan in 2005, when entire communities were isolated for days.
ChildFund’s Guatemala office and its local partners are concentrating their full efforts on ensuring the safety of children, assessing storm damage and recommending further response needs.
