Local citizens help stricken Salvadorans
Washington non-profit and religious organizations are responding in force to the devastating Hurricane Ida that left up to 200 people dead in El Salvador. Relief funds and organizations all around the DC metropolitan area have joined together to respond to the crisis to help raise funds and donations for El Salvador. Jose Jovel, director of the Fraternidad Unida Salvadoreña in DC, told reporters that uniting efforts directed to helping El Salvador will raise the amount of money needed to repair damages caused by Ida.
Local radio station “El Zol” said it is successfully raising funds that will be distributed among the neediest in the Central American nation. The station reported that it collected a total of $50,000 in a single day and that all Mega Marts in Silver Spring were accepting donations as well. Meanwhile in El Salvador, about $50,000 was also collected in a single day by Salvadoreños themselves.
According to the Salvadoran embassy in DC, Hurricane Ida caused $120 million in damage. The nation’s minister of agriculture and livestock stated that $28 million was lost as a result of the destruction of farm land and crops. Minister Dr. Manuel Sevilla reported losses of infrastructure that totaled $77.5 million. The damage included 117 obstructed highways, and $7.5 million in cleanup expenses.
The hurricane affected five main towns: San Salvador, La Libertad, Cuscatlán and La Paz, which are all located in the center of the country, and San Vicente in the East. Verapaz, 45 kilometers from San Salvador, was the town most affected by the hurricane. San Vicente, the community where our school had its Habitat for Humanity trip last summer, was also affected, and hopefully this will raise awareness at school about the tragedy.
The rain itself lasted for about five hours. The government recorded 60 people missing due to the mudslides and floods that the relentless rains brought. El Salvador’s president, Mauricio Funes, stated that this Category Two storm was a tragedy that the country could not have prepared for. The torrential rains cut off most of El Salvador from clean water or electricity. This has delayed emergency response efforts and left 7,000 people homeless and 13,000 families evacuated.
According to the “Embajada de El Salvador” website, government officials said they recognize that they were slow in responding to the national emergency, but luckily regional response from the Salvadoran Red Cross has managed to send non-food items, such as blankets, hygiene kits and clothes, to 1,500 families and raised $183,000 for flood victims. Ernesto Zelayandia, the deputy interior prime minister, reported that most of the victims were buried by mudslides or swept away by raging rivers.
Holy Trinity, a Catholic church located about a block away from the Georgetown University campus,
has been working hard since the hurricane to raise awareness and funds. The church has a sister parish in El Salvador, a church called Maria Madre De Los Pobres, which also was damaged. The annual Christmas sale that Holy Trinity hosts for its sister parish will this year benefit the flood victims and the Salvadoran church itself.
Habitat for Humanity is the school club that went down to El Salvador last summer to build houses and do community service. Last year’s popular “Empanada Fever Sweeps the School” article, written by 12th grader Nicolo Cottarelli, popularized the school’s effort to raise money to go on the trip. Empanadas will be on sale again in January to raise money for San Vicente, the town where the school worked that was strongly hit by Hurricane Ida.
The hurricane was an overwhelming catastrophe and the country deserves the school, national
and international support. Even with all these efforts, there is still a long way to go in order to restore El Salvador to its original tropical majestic beauty.
Local radio station “El Zol” said it is successfully raising funds that will be distributed among the neediest in the Central American nation. The station reported that it collected a total of $50,000 in a single day and that all Mega Marts in Silver Spring were accepting donations as well. Meanwhile in El Salvador, about $50,000 was also collected in a single day by Salvadoreños themselves.
According to the Salvadoran embassy in DC, Hurricane Ida caused $120 million in damage. The nation’s minister of agriculture and livestock stated that $28 million was lost as a result of the destruction of farm land and crops. Minister Dr. Manuel Sevilla reported losses of infrastructure that totaled $77.5 million. The damage included 117 obstructed highways, and $7.5 million in cleanup expenses.
The hurricane affected five main towns: San Salvador, La Libertad, Cuscatlán and La Paz, which are all located in the center of the country, and San Vicente in the East. Verapaz, 45 kilometers from San Salvador, was the town most affected by the hurricane. San Vicente, the community where our school had its Habitat for Humanity trip last summer, was also affected, and hopefully this will raise awareness at school about the tragedy.
The rain itself lasted for about five hours. The government recorded 60 people missing due to the mudslides and floods that the relentless rains brought. El Salvador’s president, Mauricio Funes, stated that this Category Two storm was a tragedy that the country could not have prepared for. The torrential rains cut off most of El Salvador from clean water or electricity. This has delayed emergency response efforts and left 7,000 people homeless and 13,000 families evacuated.
According to the “Embajada de El Salvador” website, government officials said they recognize that they were slow in responding to the national emergency, but luckily regional response from the Salvadoran Red Cross has managed to send non-food items, such as blankets, hygiene kits and clothes, to 1,500 families and raised $183,000 for flood victims. Ernesto Zelayandia, the deputy interior prime minister, reported that most of the victims were buried by mudslides or swept away by raging rivers.
Holy Trinity, a Catholic church located about a block away from the Georgetown University campus,
has been working hard since the hurricane to raise awareness and funds. The church has a sister parish in El Salvador, a church called Maria Madre De Los Pobres, which also was damaged. The annual Christmas sale that Holy Trinity hosts for its sister parish will this year benefit the flood victims and the Salvadoran church itself.
Habitat for Humanity is the school club that went down to El Salvador last summer to build houses and do community service. Last year’s popular “Empanada Fever Sweeps the School” article, written by 12th grader Nicolo Cottarelli, popularized the school’s effort to raise money to go on the trip. Empanadas will be on sale again in January to raise money for San Vicente, the town where the school worked that was strongly hit by Hurricane Ida.
The hurricane was an overwhelming catastrophe and the country deserves the school, national
and international support. Even with all these efforts, there is still a long way to go in order to restore El Salvador to its original tropical majestic beauty.
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