The flooding, landslides and damage were beyond belief. "I have never seen anything like what just occurred in my life," said Kathryn Winn, an El Salvador based missionary with the Latin America Mission.
Winn was referring to the aftermath of Hurricane Stan, which slammed El Salvador, Guatemala and southern Mexico in early October, leaving more than 2,000 people dead and millions of dollars of damage in its wake.
"I was not able to travel to my ministry site for three days because the highway was cut off by mudslides, fallen trees and boulders," she recalled. "I passed by a restaurant whose entire back half had fallen off of a cliff with the two security guards inside."
Hardest hit was Guatemala where up to 1,400 were possibly buried in a massive landslide that swept away the Mayan town of Panabaj near the country's popular Lake Atitlan tourist attraction. Officials found the recovery of bodies difficult if not impossible and declared the site a mass grave.
Rains from the hurricane also caused flooding in Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica.
"The impact of these natural disasters, between the floods and the volcano that erupted, has been far greater than the tragedy of Hurricane Mitch," Winn said. "Almost the entire agricultural economy was destroyed in a matter of eight days. It literally rained non-stop here for eight days."
El Salvador's Ilamatepec Volcano erupted as the region was being drenched by the hurricane's downpours. An earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter Scale also struck the country, causing landslides on hills already unstable because of the heavy rain.
Winn reported that more than 70,000 people were living in temporary shelters, mostly in Evangelical churches and schools. "Many of the shelters are inaccessible and the aid must be sent via sliding the food across rivers by rope," she said.
The impact in neighboring Guatemala was much higher. "The western and southern coasts were especially badly damaged with flooding, mudslides and damage to homes and crops," reported Phillip Sandahl, Country Director for the Christian aid agency Food For the Hungry International.
"Many roads and bridges have been washed out and people are isolated from relief workers. Many have gone without food or water for five or six days. Helicopters are being used the find and bring aid to affected communities. Mudslides have buried entire towns.
