The USAID MFEWS Weather
Hazards Impacts Assessment for Central America August 26 – September 1, 2010
The continuation of above average rainfall across many local parts of Guatemala and Honduras has triggered additional flooding, landslides, damages to infrastructure, and many displaced people.
2) The continuation of above-average rainfall in western and southern Honduras has resulted in additional flooding, hundreds of displaced people, and damages to
infrastructure. Due to heavy rainfall in El Salvador during the last week, many local areas remain vulnerable to flooding and landslides with high rains expected to continue during next seven days.
3) Two consecutive days of heavy rain led to flooding and damages to roadways in the Puntarenas department in Costa Rica.
1) Following flooding, landslides, and elevated river levels during the last three weeks, the
continuation of heavy rains have led to additional flooding, damages to infrastructure and fatalities along the southern coastline, as well as, in the Izabal department of Guatemala during the last week. The above-average rainfall during the last several weeks has negatively impacted both Primera and Postrera seasonal crops.
MFEWS is a USAID-funded activity whose purpose is to provide objective information about food security conditions. Its views are not necessarily reflective of those of USAID or the U.S. Government. The MFEWS weather hazards assessment process and products include participation by MFEWS field and home offices, NOAA-CPC, USGS, USDA, NASA, and a number of other national and regional organizations in the countries such as, INETER of Nicaragua, Meteorological Service of Honduras, IMN of Costa Rica, INSIVUMEH of Guatemala, ETESA of Panama, NMS of Belize and SNET of El Salvador. Questions or comments about this product may be directed to Wassila.Thiaw@noaa.gov or 1-301-763-8000 x7566. Questions about the USAID MFEWS activity may be directed to Gary Eilerts, USAID Program Manager for MFEWS, 1-202-219-0500 or geilerts@usaid.gov.
Continued heavy precipitation continues to trigger additional flooding, landslides, damages to infrastructure and negatively affect cropping activities.
During the last observation period, significantly high rainfall accumulations were observed for a number of areas in Central America. In Guatemala, excessive seven day rainfall resulted in flooding, elevated river levels, damages to infrastructure, and fatalities in the southern departments of Escuintla, Santa Rosa, San Marcos, as well as further north in the Guatemala and Izabal departments. In Honduras, continued moderate to heavy rainfall triggered additional flooding, landslides, and hundreds of displaced people in southern Honduras. In El Salvador, consecutive weeks of above-average precipitation have left many local areas vulnerable for flooding and landslides during the next week. In Costa Rica, high rainfall also led to flooding and damages to infrastructure in the Puntarenas department along the Pacific coastline and Panama border. Due to the above-average rainfall over the last three months, excess water is expected to negatively affect the harvesting of Primera crops, as well as the sowing of Postrera crops throughout Central America. Water- borne disease may lead to reductions in maize and bean yields.
Precipitation forecasts maintain a high probability for heavy rainfall (>50mm) for many areas in Central America, as well as areas previously impacted by flooding during the last several weeks. These rains are likely to aggravate local flooding conditions, elevate river levels, and possibly produce additional flooding for many local areas in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. No significant tropical activity is expected during the next week.
Seven-Day Precipitation Forecast (mm) August 25th – September 1st, 2010
Figure 1: Source NOAA / CPC
