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Videos: Central America Under Water

Categories: Latin America, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Breaking News, Disaster, Humanitarian Response, Refugees

The tropical depression 12-E over Central America has brought torrential downpours [1] and rains for days on end, causing flooding, closing roads and highways and displacing people.  Through this post we'll see the effects of the rainfall through several Central American countries.

Flooded roads in El Salvador [2]

Flooded roads in El Salvador

Inversiones Digitales shows us t [3]he state of the roads in the southern region of  Malcovia Choluteca in  Honduras, as he requests the President's presence in the south, insisting he should send a force to build levees and dredge the river properly.

These next videos show us the flooded countryside [4], the water covered roads [5] and  raging rivers [6] that threaten the people of Nicaragua:

http://youtu.be/_lezA1zw1So [5]

http://youtu.be/pXvAMa6Ze7A [4]

In Guatemala alone, flooding and landslides have killed more than a dozen people. On the video  description of the raging Los Esclavos river [7], Diario La Hora GT explains:

Guatemala presenta los mayores daños con 15 víctimas mortales y más de 52.000 afectados, puentes derribados, vías colapsadas y un paso fronterizo incomunicado con El Salvador, según registros oficiales.

“Tenemos 15 personas fallecidas, cuatro desaparecidas, 938 albergadas, 1.570 evacuadas, 8.716 damnificadas y 43.538 afectadas. Además, hay 50 tramos carreteros y ocho puentes afectados”, precisó en rueda de prensa el vicepresidente Rafael Espada.

Guatemala presents the greatest damages with 15 mortal victims and more than 52000 people affected, collapsed bridges, closed roads and an interrupted border crossing with El Salvador according to official records.

“We have 15 people dead, four missing, 938 in shelters, 1570 evacuated, 8716 affected people. Also, there are 50 stretches of roads and eight bridges affected”, Vice President Rafael Espada declared in a press conference.

The community of Garita Palmera in El Salvador has made a call to the authorities [8] to send help not only to the shelters, but to all the community, since many people don't make it to the shelters, and aid doesn't get evenly distributed. A woman in the community also makes the point that the rains have affected people's ability to earn a living, so the effects of the rains and floods will be felt by all in the coming months, not just those who had to leave their homes.

http://youtu.be/xRgQzgatqHY [8]

Also from the Garita Palmera community, these next two videos show the damage to the roads. In the first video [9], the road is under water and people wade through, in the next [10], the waters have receded and the damage to the structure can be clearly seen.

http://youtu.be/SRF1hcOnA3Q [9]

http://youtu.be/9eo79sxt4tA [10]

The blog Voices from El Salvador [11]have been closely following the disaster and they are raising funds [12] to help the victims of the rains.

This next video [13]shows images of the rescue efforts taking place in the flooded communities of El Salvador, where rescue workers are seen taking people out of the dangerous areas and into safety.

Gringa in El Salvador [14] stands out in the rain [15] to explain how it's been raining for a week straight. In her blog, she's posting information and updates [16]on the effects of the storm in El Salvador.