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El Salvador

ShelterBox team responds to El Salvador floods

International disaster relief charity ShelterBox is sending a response team to El Salvador after torrential floods and landslides left thousands of people homeless.

At least 130 people have died in the disaster which was linked indirectly to Hurricane Ida. The President of El Salvador Mauricio Funes has declared a national emergency.

Reports say 7,000 homes have been destroyed by mudslides with the areas around the capital, San Salvador, and the central province of San Vicente, hit the hardest.

A two-person ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) of John Lacquey (US) and Noel Currie (CA) is travelling to the country to assess the devastation and identify areas with the greatest need for emergency shelter.

The capital San Salvador and the El Salvadorian town of Verapaz, in the San Vicente district, have been worst affected from torrential flooding and subsequent landslides, after a wave of mud and boulders came crashing down from the Chichontepec Volcano.

Jessica Stanton, ShelterBox's Operations Coordinator, said: 'The hurricane did not directly hit El Salvador but has left torrential rain causing mudslides and destroying hundreds of homes. Our team will be on the ground assessing the urgent need for emergency shelter and supplies.'

In the town of Verapaz in San Vicente, soldiers and civilians have been searching debris left by a landslide for dozens of missing people.

A torrent of mud and boulders from the Chichontepec volcano hit the town on Sunday, wrecking 300 homes and burying cars.

ShelterBox Response Team members in El Salvador will be available this week for media interviews. To arrange interviews or for more information or high resolution images, please contact Angelina Lambourn on 01326 569782 or angelinal@shelterbox.org*

About ShelterBox

ShelterBox is an international disaster relief charity which exists to provide humanitarian aid worldwide in the form of shelter, warmth and dignity for people displaced by natural and other disasters.

Each ShelterBox contains a 10-person tent, blankets, water purification and cooking equipment, basic tools, a stove and other essential equipment. Every box is individually numbered and can be tracked by donors. Each box costs £490 - including the cost of all materials, packing, storage, transport worldwide and distribution to the needy. Best value is achieved by working closely with leading suppliers, all items being obtained at below trade price. Assuming six months' use, this equates to shelter and warmth for less than 30 pence per person per day.

All aid delivery is undertaken by international volunteer ShelterBox Response Team members who have carried out extensive training with ShelterBox. The charity is often able to get aid where it is needed faster than any other organisation.

An initiative of Rotarian Tom Henderson, a former Royal Navy search and rescue diver, ShelterBox started in 2000 as a project of the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard, Cornwall. ShelterBox, now the largest Rotary Club project in the world, has raised over £25 million and responded to over 90 major disasters including the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar (Burma) and has operated in 60 countries.