CFCA news
Rains affect CFCA Central American communities
October 12, 2011
A flooded river in El Salvador after the recent rains.
SANTA ANA, El Salvador — Heavy rains in the past 24 hours are affecting much of Central America, including communities served by CFCA in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras. According to local news agencies, the rain is expected to continue for the next 48 hours.
The soil in the region is saturated with water after more than five months into the regular rainy season. This creates very dangerous conditions for communities living close to rivers, mountains and lowlands.
In Costa Rica, CFCA sponsored members and their families in the community of Desamparados, southeast of the project office in San José, have suffered minor damages to their homes, said Jean Carlo Aria, a San José staff member. The access bridge in the town of Jicaral has been damaged, isolating the entire community, including the families of 140 CFCA sponsored members.
Gleny Paz, CFCA coordinator in Suyapa, Honduras, said the town of La Dicha, six hours north of the CFCA office in Tegucigalpa, is isolated because a mudslide blocked the rocky path into the community. CFCA serves about 52 sponsored members in La Dicha. Staff members are trying to contact the area to find out more about the families.
Similar conditions are reported in the Honduran communities of Toriles, Buena Vista, Veracruz, Cantorel and Joyas del Carballo, east of Tegucigalpa.
Mario Zaldaña, from Santa Ana, El Salvador, said families in communities in and around the cities of Ahuachapan and Sonsonate have been evacuated to municipal shelters. CFCA staff members in El Salvador are trying to identify the location and most urgent needs of the affected families.
Rains are not as heavy in Santa Barbara, Honduras, said staffer Xiomara Muñoz, and no reports have been received from the CFCA communities served by this project.
CFCA will update this report when new information is received.
Henry Flores, director of the CFCA communications center in El Salvador, compiled information for this report.
