Author: Nadia McGill
SILVER SPRING, Md. — In El Salvador, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is responding to the needs of hundreds of people who were affected by a powerful storm that struck on Saturday, November 7, triggering severe flooding and deadly landslides.
"Entire towns are under rubble," said Jorge Enrique Salazar, head of the ADRA office in El Salvador. "This has been a worse experience than when Hurricane Stan hit El Salvador in 2005."
As a result of the disaster, a total of 144 people have died and nearly 13,000 people are currently residing in temporary displacement shelters throughout the country, reported the United Nations.
ADRA's intervention will distribute food baskets for 550 affected families throughout the country. Each basket, which includes sugar, rice, beans, flour, and oil, is designed to meet the dietary needs of a family of six.
"Our objective is to aid those who are most affected by the disaster, specifically people who have been displaced by the storm and are currently residing in temporary shelters, to help them recover from this disaster," added Salazar.
Funders for this response include ADRA International, the ADRA office in the Inter-American region located in Miami, Florida, and ADRA El Salvador.
The Government of El Salvador reported that more than 14 inches (375 mm) of rain accumulated in the San Vicente department, and area east of the country's capital city, while more than seven inches (200 mm) of rainfall fell in the metropolitan area of Greater San Salvador.
Although the devastation was originally blamed on Hurricane Ida, which hit Central America with Category 2 winds during the same week, the National Hurricane Center has indicated that much of the devastation in El Salvador was due to a low-pressure system that originated in the Pacific Ocean.
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To send your contribution to ADRA's Emergency Response Fund, please contact ADRA at 1.800.424.ADRA (2372) or give online at www.adra.org.
ADRA is a non-governmental organization present in 125 countries providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race or ethnicity.
For more information about ADRA, visit http://www.adra.org.
For more information, contact:
John Torres, Senior Public Relations Manager
301.680.6357 (office)
301.680.6370 (fax)
John.Torres@adra.org
