El Salvador - GFDRR

II. POPULATION AND AFFECTED AREAS | 85
At the close of this assessment, information was provided on damages that exceed the table’s figure
by about US$25 million, in which case the damages would total US$106.2 million. 41 Unfortunately, at
present it is not possible to assume this figure because it is not sufficiently supported and it is no longer
possible to view the new damages in situ. However, this in no way constitutes a supposed rejection of
last-minute information, but rather it simply follows the need to close the assessment exercise using the
previously confirmed figures.
c) Estimate of Losses
These costs occur as a result of the need that forces drivers to resort to alternate routes in
replacement of those they regularly use because traffic was interrupted or blocked by damages to the
road infrastructure.
It is should be noted that the abovementioned losses occur in the following situations, among others
of lesser importance: detours by drivers who decide to use alternate routes, and traffic suppression. The
mission observed situations that showed the occurrence of this type of costs, which are losses for the
national economy.
The losses that were observed and later quantified correspond to higher operating costs incurred by
drivers when they have to detour from their regular routes to others of lesser quality. This phenomenon is
a frequent occurrence in freight traffic because drivers need to reach their destinations or return to where
they started. This occurs in the case of insurmountable obstacles; the most typical case is the collapse of
bridges, which occurred on 30 spans. Direct or normal traffic that has to travel on roads deteriorated because
of rains also constitutes losses; this translates into increased operating costs for vehicles that have
to travel on lower-standard roads.
Another case of losses observed are increased travel time and costs incurred on roads that, because
they attract traffic, end up being saturated, causing the typical situation of traffic congestion.
The long waiting times due to involuntary stops also constitute losses; these stops generate costs corresponding
to immobilized capital (value of the vehicle plus the value of the freight plus the value of the
time of passengers who are forced to wait during the stop).
Loss estimates were based on alternate routes contributed by the already identified work group. The
total amount of losses was estimated at 11.5 million, which fall fully on the private sector; of this, US$7.3
million refer to the imported component.
The figures in the table above do not include costs stemming from traffic suppression because their
41
The respective document is dated November 30, 2009, while the figures at the close of the present document correspond
to November 27 of the same year.