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CENTRALAMERICANEWS
| Wednesday 01
September 2010 |
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Critical
Situation
in
Guatemala
from
Rain,
Floods
GUATEMALA
- Rains
and
flooding
that
appear
unlikely
to end
any time
soon
have
caused
extensive
damage
in
Guatemala,
leading
to a
critical
situation.
According
to the
latest
report
of the
National
Disaster
Reduction
Coordination
Agency (CONRED),
innumerable
incidents
have
been
reported
related
to the
devastating
effects
of the
heavy
rains.
These
include
21
floods,
chiefly
caused
by the
overflow
of
rivers,
in the
departments
of Alta
Verapaz,
Escuintla,
Huehuetenango,
Izabal,
Jutiapa,
Peten,
Quiche,
Sacatepequez,
Solola,
and
Zacapa.
A total
of 654
houses
were
damaged,
56 of
them
seriously,
and 29
collapses
and
landslides
were
reported,
all of
them due
to an
excess
of
humidity
accumulated
in the
soil,
and
causing
the
blockade
of
roads.
Landslides
were the
main
causes
of the
six
deaths
reported,
all of
them
teen-agers,
in a
little
over a
week.
One of
the most
significant
effects
of
flooding
was the
collapse
of
almost
half the
bridge
that
joins
Guatemala
and
Honduras
on an
international
road in
the
northeastern
department
of
Izabal.
Disaster
authorities
have
moved
3,614
people
to
shelters,
but
warned
that
they
were
gradually
running
out of
supplies
and
lacked
funds to
continue
assisting
flood
victims. | |
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