Amongst the news of devastating floods in several parts of the world, we currently have three teams assessing the flood situation which still is severely impacting Central America.
Parts of El Salvador have been some of the worst affected, with a national disaster declared by the government. WSPA’s Disaster Assessment Response Team (DART) for this operation travelled to the worst affected communities of Pichiche, San Jose de la Montaña, Marranibo and Pimental in the province of La Paz. The DART, consisting of WSPA vet Dr. Sergio Vasquez, a former Veterinary Emergency Response Unit (VERU) leader and a local NGO, in coordination with the local Ministry of Agriculture, witnessed a high level of devastation in the rural area, but also some positive results from our prevention work.
All the crops in the affected communities had been lost, as well as 80 percent of the pastures which will require several months to recover. In addition, 70 percent of the poultry kept by local people had perished. The local population depends heavily on livestock and poultry for their livelihoods and so will be severely impacted by the loss of their animals and pastures, which are used for grazing.
But, despite the loss of five percent of the cattle to the floods, the vast majority of these animals and the pig population were saved from the flood waters, thanks to preventative measures being taken by locals. WSPA had broadcast Public Service Announcements (PSA) in the country, advising people to include their animals in their emergency planning. Cattle and pigs were taken to higher ground within the communities and so were able to withstand the floods. In addition, many cattle were evacuated to higher pastures, owned by relatives or friends.
We will update you further on the three Central America deployments when the assessments are complete.
