El Salvador - GFDRR
El Salvador - GFDRR
El Salvador - GFDRR
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114 | <strong>El</strong> <strong>Salvador</strong>: Damage, Loss, and Needs Assesment<br />
worsened prospects or made them more negative. As a result, the evaluations indicate the opportunities<br />
to change policy directions, improve previous structural conditions, and generate significant changes in<br />
risk management. A summary of these evaluations, conducted by CEPAL, is presented below.<br />
TABLE 45. SUMMARY OF ASSESSMENTS MADE BY CEPAL IN EL SALVADOR<br />
Event<br />
Earthquake (5.6 on the Richter<br />
scale) on June 19; drought in<br />
July and August, and storm from<br />
September 16 to 20.<br />
Earthquake (5.4 on the Richter<br />
scale).<br />
Hurricane Mitch (sustained winds<br />
of up to 144 knots or 285 km/h<br />
at time of highest intensity and<br />
precipitation exceeding 600 mm).<br />
January 13 (tectonic earthquake,<br />
7.6 on the Richter scale), February<br />
13 (independent event, 6.6 on the<br />
Richter scale).<br />
Drought with effects mainly on<br />
Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala<br />
and <strong>El</strong> <strong>Salvador</strong><br />
Torrential rains, Tropical Storm Stan<br />
and eruption of Ilamtepec volcano,<br />
October 2005<br />
Population<br />
affected<br />
Total effects<br />
(2007 constant value)<br />
External<br />
Year Deaths Direct Total Damages Losses effect<br />
1982 600 20,000 1,828 1,395 432 548<br />
1986, Oct. 10 1 200 520,000 7,293 5,526 1,767 1,459<br />
1998, Oct. 23 –<br />
Nov. 4<br />
240 84,316 549 240 309 103<br />
2001, Jan. – Feb. 1 241 2,351,886 5,476 3,410 2,066 1,059<br />
2001 35 600,000 234 0 234 80<br />
2005 69 72,141 383 172 211 107<br />
TOTAL 23 3,385 3,648,343 15,763 10,743 5,020 3,357<br />
Average per event 564 608,057 2,627 1,791 837 559<br />
Source: Evaluations by CEPAL.<br />
Climate change models forecast that <strong>El</strong> <strong>Salvador</strong> will be subjected to warming and a trend toward<br />
drought. It is expected to receive more frequent heat waves, periods of drought and less intense rains, as<br />
well as increasing sea levels, as is predicted for the rest of Mesoamerica. It is known that the interannual<br />
variability of climate, whether from the Pacific or the Atlantic, explains a significant amount of the total<br />
variation in precipitation in the Caribbean and Central America. The combination of the abovementioned<br />
likely impacts of climate change, together with the possibility of greater frequency of the <strong>El</strong> Niño Southern<br />
Oscillation (ENSO), would aggravate existing health problems as well as the social and economic challenges<br />
that affect <strong>El</strong> <strong>Salvador</strong>.<br />
<strong>El</strong> <strong>Salvador</strong> has adopted the recommendations of the strategic objectives and priority actions of<br />
the “Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the resilience of nations and communities to<br />
disasters.” 52 With the objective of supporting countries in monitoring and compliance with the Hyogo<br />
52<br />
World Conference on Disaster Reduction, held from January 18 to 22, 2005, Kobe, Oigo, Japan. http://www.unisdr.org/<br />
eng/hfa/docs/Hyogo-framework-for-action-english.pdf