The Minister of the Interior, Juan Carlos Bidegain, stated in a press conference that the National Civil Protection Commission is evaluating raising the alert from “orange” to “red” due to the rains that have been hitting the national territory for days.
According to the Regulations of the Civil Protection Law, the red alert is activated when the event has already had a “severe” impact, producing a disaster situation. This state of alarm allows the authorities to have “all the resources that the State needs.”
Since last June 14, El Salvador has been on orange alert due to intense rainfall that, according to authorities, could lead to accumulations of between 500 and 700 mm in a few days.
The rains have already caused landslides, including one on the island of Meanguera del Golfo, La Unión, where a Salvadoran boy and a young Nicaraguan girl died on June 10.
This climatic setback is caused by several phenomena in both the Pacific and the Caribbean that cause the influence of humidity on the country.
“The soils are already saturated with moisture, as we can see in the map of accumulated rainfall in the last 48 hours… In points like the San Miguel volcano there are 216 millimeters and in Conchagua, 215 millimeters, in Jucuarán, 246… These specific points, these accumulated, are equivalent to 10 – 11 percent of the annual average rainfall,” indicated an official source.
The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN), Fernando López, pointed out that landslides and floods could affect specific areas of the country, especially the eastern area with emphasis on the coastal area, for which he called for prevention. .
The Minister of the Environment predicts that there will be accumulation of rain of up to 700 millimeters due to the forecast rains in the Central American region.
The accumulation of rainwater in the national territory almost reached 200 millimeters in 24 hours on the Conchagua volcano, where the MARN threats observatory has a measurement station.
Large accumulations of rain increase the risks of urban flooding, overflows, falling poles, falling trees, landslides, landslides or infrastructure collapses, due to the accumulation of moisture in the ground.
“We have to be attentive, we have to be alert, there will be preventive evacuations,” said López in response to the increased risk due to the accumulation of water on the land.
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