Tropical Depression 12-E hit El Salvador this past Thursday.  What started as a standard tropical storm became a full fledged crisis by Saturday.  Reports from our partners in the field are that floods are worse than the truly disastrous Hurricane Mitch in 1998.Currently the entire Lower Lempa region is flooded and the rains have not stopped, as they are expected to continue at least until Tuesday, October 18th.   All the rivers, including the Rio Grande San Miguel in Puerto Parada, have completely flooded out.  Late last night the dam on the Lempa River was releasing water at a rate of 9500 cubic meters per second, over 3 times higher than the levees were built to withstand and by far the highest releases ever known, according to Estela Hernandez, a leader of the Mangrove Association, EcoViva’s main partner in El Salvador. The levees were destroyed in multiple places.  Most likely all crops have been lost.The mayor of Jiquilisco has called for a complete and total evacuation of the area, the first time in our understanding that this has been known to happen.   The Salvadoran army has been dispatched to help as this will likely go down as the largest evacuation ever attempted in the region.

Other parts of the country are also in crisis.  Major bridges and highways in La Libertad are collapsing.  The damage is on a scale that is hard to imagine.

La Coordinadora and the local Civil Protection Brigades are operating out of Ciudad Romero working first and foremost to make sure everyone in their 100+ communities safe, and then to make sure the evacuees have food, clothes, mattresses, and other basic necessities met.

For 15 years we have supported the creation of disaster response teams in the communities to help them adapt to and prepare for climate change. Now they are being put to the ultimate test.

What we love about our partner communities is that they are incredibly organized.  Four days ago, boats and kayaks were deployed and began mobilizing in areas that have historically been hit the hardest during natural disasters. We know these efforts will be effective, but they do need as many resources as possible to succeed.

Your help is needed.  Please donate now to help us send emergency funds to our partner communities, to support the many people we know and love who are mobilizing right now to save their lives and everything that they call home.  We will be sending funds for immediate response and for the recovery and rebuilding process. We will continue to send updates as this story progresses.

Please contact us at info [at] eco-viva.org with any ideas for businesses and institutions that may be willing to pitch in during this difficult time.  Thank you.