There
is something rather strange about the way that Rio Suchiate
flows past the small riverside communities in Tecun Uman near
Guatemala’s Pacific coast. The river twists suddenly and
makes a deep inroad into a crumbled and deserted bank.
“There was a village here. That’s where we lived.
Now there is just the river,” says Victoria Isabel Garcia.
Victoria’s home in the community of Las Delicias disappeared
during October last year as Hurricane Stan swept across Guatemala
on its way towards Mexico.
Hurricane Stan had already caused considerable damage in Belize,
Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica,
and Guatemala suffered particularly severe damage.
In Guatemala, torrential rains from Hurricane Stan caused extensive
flooding and landslides, which killed almost 1,500 people and
affected a further 1.5 million.
For those living in Las Delicias, there was not much time to
act as the raging torrents of water from Rio Suchiate burst
through its banks. Over a thousand families in Las Delicias
lost their houses in a matter of hours.
“The river started to move closer at eight in the morning.
By one o’clock it took over,” Victoria whispers,
her eyes downcast, carrying her baby boy Wilmer in her arms.
When the hurricane struck, she was seven month pregnant.
“My husband was away working on a coffee plantation. I
grabbed my daughter Sandri, who was one year old at the time,
and ran. We just managed to escape, but we couldn’t save
anything.”
Her husband, Emeterio Velasquez, feared the worst as he rushed
home and saw the river surging violently over the spot where
his home used to stand. His relief was immeasurable when neighbours
told him that Victoria had run to the local church, which was
safe as it stood high on a hill overlooking the village.
The family received emergency aid from the Guatemalan Red Cross,
but all their belongings were washed away and Emeterio admits
that he misses their electrical appliances in particular.
“We are poor people and worked hard in order to achieve
what we had. Now we can’t afford anything like that.”
Eleven months on and the family is still living in a temporary
shelter in a camp close to their lost community with 300 other
families. Despite hot and cramped conditions, they are reluctant
to move elsewhere.
“We have just recently been offered a new plot by the
authorities. It is a little further away from the river, but
we are still afraid to move. When we hear the word hurricane,
we always remember what happened a year ago.”
Their fear is triggered by the fact that the Central American
hurricane seasons are intensifying. Last year, 2005, was a record-breaking
season, with 26 tropical storms and 14 hurricanes devastating
the region. Meteorologists are not expecting 2006 to be as destructive
as 2005, but in the longer term, climate change is expected
to increase the incidence and severity of weather-related natural
disasters.
“It is true that storms seem to strike more often than
before. And the river flows in a different way too. It can swell
more easily because the trees we had here sheltering us have
been cut down or washed away,” says Emeterio.
The Guatemalan Red Cross is ready and prepared to assist the
victims of the 2006 hurricane season. Just as importantly, its
members and volunteers are now focused on creating ways to reduce
the damage of future hurricanes.
Disaster preparedness programmes have been started not only
in Guatemala, but across the whole of Central America with the
aim that the communities themselves take as much responsibility
for the practical work as possible.
This disaster preparedness also applies to those displaced in
the community of Las Delicias. Community members work in groups
to plan and take responsibility for first aid, emergency food
reserves and the potential evacuation of their community.
“Before Hurricane Stan, we weren’t aware of such
issues. Now we have those belongings we want to save ready,
and we have some provisions. It’s not much, but it’s
everything that is valuable to us,” says Victoria.
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The
Guatemalan Red Cross is ready and prepared to assist the
victims of the 2006 hurricane season. Just as importantly,
its members and volunteers are now focused on creating
ways to reduce the damage of future hurricanes. (p14656)
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Eleven
months on and the family is still living in a temporary
shelter in a camp close to their lost community with 300
other families. Despite hot and cramped conditions, they
are reluctant to move elsewhere. (p14657)
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For
those living in Las Delicias, there was not much time
to act as the raging torrents of water from Rio Suchiate
burst through its banks. Over a thousand families in Las
Delicias lost their houses in a matter of hours. (p14655)
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News
