Nine straight days of rains from Hurricane Stan saturated the porous volcanic soils within Guetamala in early October. The result was heavy flooding in the coastal areas where much of the commercial agriculture is concentrated. Rivers overflowed their banks, flooding the flat plains. In some places it created new pathways washing away homes, crops and livestock. The heavy rains were equally unmerciful in the highland areas where many native Mayan people live. The rains brought torrential amounts of mud and debris down mountainsides. Small streams and rivers overflowed and threatened entire communities in their path. Though many communities were evacuated, some did not receive any warning, particularly in Solola and San Marcos. These areas have now been declared mass graves.
A few days after the worst of the rains ceased, I made a 230-kilometre journey that normally takes four hours from Guatemala City to Quetzaltenango. With the detours caused by mudslides and the convoys laden with relief supplies it took 10 hours to reach my destination. My truck was filled with donations from the Centre for Evangelical Pastoral Studies in Central America, where I am currently assigned. The following morning with the women of the Fraternidad de Presbiteriales Mayas (a PWS&D partner), we prepared and delivered bags of emergency food supplies to two communities cut off by the disaster. Neither community was reachable by vehicle. In both cases we had to hike to ask the women to come down to the road to pick up the supplies. The second community of Tojalik required a five-kilometre climb from the main highway.
We witnessed hundreds of men from the community working with nothing more than shovels and picks to rebuild and refill the road that had disappeared. We counted at least five major breaks where the road had slid down the hill. Gaps of hundreds of metres and depths of 50 metres or more had to be bridged or filled in by the community. The men informed us that while the community suffered no deaths, a handful of houses were destroyed or damaged. However, what most worried them was the fact that their only road to and from the community was impassable. They had informed the nearest government office but were told that there were other priorities. Next year may be bleak if their crops end up rotting for not being able to get to the market and the community will be poorer without the income.
On the evening of Oct. 21, I was able to visit the Pacific coastal town of Champerico with CEIDEC (a PWS&D partner). We flew in a small Cessna because the main road had been cut when the overflowing rivers destroyed a major bridge. We landed on a soggy field to meet with leaders from 19 communities to assess their emergency needs. A once bustling tourist coastal town looked abandoned as only locals were evident in the street, and the restaurants and shops were void of life. The shrimping and fishing industries have been crippled by the destruction of habitat and then by the health department prohibiting the sale of seafood for fear of contamination. Three thousand families will need immediate food aid. CEIDEC is in the process of coordinating the purchase and delivery of 16 tonnes of emergency food supplies to the affected communities.
Hurricane Stan damage (as of press time)
- 669 dead
- 844 not accounted for
- 9,096 houses destroyed
- 25,666 houses damaged
- 1,063 communities affected
