El Salvador - GFDRR

More documents

Recommendations

Info

6 | El Salvador: Damage, Loss, and Needs Assesment It is difficult to establish a trend regarding whether the recurrence or frequency of these events is increasing as a consequence of climate change processes, although their economic cost has undoubtedly grown exponentially. Even on a partial basis (only those events that the country’s government has requested are evaluated), the average annual impact of this type of disasters is around 160,000 people affected, with damages of nearly US$470 million and losses of nearly US$220 million. Their weight in the GDP is 4.2%, while damages represent over 20% of gross capital formation (GCF). Although this average is biased by the large-scale events that occurred (Hurricane Mitch, the 1986 and 2001 earthquakes, principally), these evaluations do not take into account the “everyday disasters” or small-scale events that the country suffers each year—particularly recurring floods and landslides in the rainy season—, especially affecting the most vulnerable zones in urban areas and disadvantaged agricultural producers, on slopes and riverbanks that are regularly flooded. TABLE 2. EL SALVADOR: STATISTICS OF EVENTS EVALUATED BY CEPAL, 1982–2005 Population affected Total (in millions of US dollars, 2007) Relation of total Deaths Direct Total Damages Losses External effect impact to preceding GDP Damages with respect to preceding GCF Total events evaluated 3,385 3,648,343 15,763 10,743 5,020 3,357 32.3% 160.5% Average per event 564 608,057 2,627 1,791 837 559 16.1% 80.2% Average per year during the period 147 158,624 685 467 218 146 4.2% 20.9% Source: CEPAL assessments (1982–2005). B. NOVEMBER 2009 EVENT – CAUSES AND DESCRIPTION The event that occurred on this occasion is associated with heavy precipitation that totaled over 450 mm in a three-day period (November 7 to 9, 2009), with a maximum intensity of 355 mm in a five-hour period during which landslides occurred and rivers overflowed their banks. This figure corresponds to nearly five times the average precipitation expected for the month of November. The lahars 7 that hurled down over Verapaz, where the greatest numbers of deaths took place, occurred in the early morning (around 2:00 a.m. on November 8, 2009). 7 A lahar (or mudflow) is a flow of mud moving down from the slopes of stratovolcanoes. In recent centuries, lahars have destroyed more public or private property than any other volcanic process and have caused the losses of thousands of human lives. Lahars, together with falling tephra, are the principal cause of risks associated with volcanoes. Lahars may occur due to: 1. Intense rainy periods, not necessarily coinciding with periods of volcanic activity. 2. Glaciar fusion in the upper parts of a volcano during volcanic activity. 3. Emptying of a crater lake located at the top of a volcano. 4. Collapse of slopes due to prolonged hydrothermal alteration or earthquake. Unlike landslides of debris, lahars are humid deposits where water influences both the genesis and the transport of the remobilized mass (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahar)
I. DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENT | 7 The intense rain also resulted in flooding and erosion in rivers and landslides on steeper slopes. The mix of water, mud and sediment—material carried by the current—saturated riverbeds, already considerably silted by prior events, causing widespread flooding on the plain and affecting settlements, towns and urban areas, with damages to urban, rural and transport infrastructure. In addition, the lahar on slopes caused significant soil losses, and floods caused sediment to accumulate on agricultural lands, with damages to terrain and plantations and crop losses. Tropical Storm Ida began November 4 th on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua, near Bluefields. By the next day, Thursday the 5 th , it had become a hurricane (Level 1 on the Saffir-Simpson scale). Upon making landfall in Nicaragua, it lost strength as it moved to the northwest. On Friday the 6 th , now only a tropical depression, it continued moving and crossed Honduras on a north-northwesterly path, while a lowpressure front persisted in the direction of southwestern El Salvador, causing the abundant humidity to move toward this country. IMAGE 1. IDA’s PATH AND IMAGE OF RECORDED RAINFALL Source: Joint Research Center of the European Commission (JRC).
Page 1: El Salvador Damage, Loss, and Needs
Page 5 and 6: | iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We wish to e
Page 7 and 8: Acknowledgement | v The external su
Page 9 and 10: | 1 PRESENTATION At the request of
Page 11 and 12: | 3 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Through
Page 13: | 5 I. DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENT A.
Page 17 and 18: I. DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENT | 9 IMA
Page 19 and 20: I. DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENT | 11 IM
Page 21 and 22: I. DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENT | 13 Sp
Page 23 and 24: I. DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENT | 15 As
Page 25 and 26: I. DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENT | 17 C.
Page 27 and 28: I. DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENT | 19 po
Page 29 and 30: I. DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENT | 21 GR
Page 31 and 32: | 23 II. POPULATION AND AFFECTED AR
Page 33 and 34: II. POPULATION AND AFFECTED AREAS |
Page 65 and 66:
II. POPULATION AND AFFECTED AREAS |
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
Page 71 and 72:
Page 73 and 74:
Page 75 and 76:
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80:
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97:
Page 100 and 101:
92 | El Salvador: Damage, Loss, and
Page 102 and 103:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108 and 109:
100 | El Salvador: Damage, Loss, an
Page 110 and 111:
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144 and 145:
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
Page 152 and 153:
Page 154 and 155:
Page 156 and 157:
Page 158 and 159:
Page 160:
AUSTRALIA BELGIUM BRAZIL CANADA DEN
show all

El Salvador - GFDRR

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?