Central America storm causes damage to SOS Children's Villages
SOS Villages in Central America suffer storm damage
As many as 106 people are reported to have died following the tropical storm that battered Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador at the weekend. Guatemala was hit hardest, with at least 83 deaths, nearly 112,000 people were evacuated and more than 29,000 are now living in temporary shelters. The wreckage has been widespread across the country. In Honduras, fourteen people have died and about 3,500 have been evacuated from their homes and nearly 3,300 are living in shelters.
Affect on SOS Children's Villages
Nobody from SOS Children's Villages or SOS programmes has been harmed, but there has been some damage to infrastructure. The status of some community centres remains unknown due to interrupted communication lines and damaged roads. For the same reasons, some schools will remain closed for periods ranging from a day to a week.
Guatemala
Retalhuleu: In the girls' Youth Home, the roofs were damaged and water seeped into the building.
Quetzaltenango: The SOS Children's Village was partially flooded. Two Youth Homes suffered damages to the roofing and the administrative offices were flooded.
San Cristóbal: The SOS Children's Village was covered in volcanic ash (due to the eruptions of volcano Pacaya) and suffered some flooding. The Youth Homes suffered damages to the roofing.
San Juan Sacatepequez: Two community centres were slightly damaged by the heavy rains, one was flooded with mud.
Nuevo San Carlos: One community centre reported damages to the roofing. Some communities have no electricity.
El Salvador
San Miguel: The community home Palomilla Nueva Granada, an old school building, was flooded and several walls were destroyed. The building is currently unusable; the children will be relocated to a small church.
Santa Ana: Some of the family houses in the SOS Children's Village are at risk of being destroyed by a landslide.
Honduras
La Ceiba: The SOS Children's Village's infrastructure was damaged by the heavy rains; the office building, the meeting hall and the play area have leaks in the ceilings and roofs.
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