State of emergency
Guatemala’s worst rainy season (May-November) in 60 years according to authorities.
At the end of May, Agatha, the first tropical storm of the Pacific hurricane season, hit Guatemala hard causing 165 deaths and one billion dollars in damages. In early September, torrential rains battered the country leading to landslides and causing a half a billion dollars in damages. The death toll numbered at least 48 and 15 others were reported missing. President Alvaro Colom declared a state of emergency, explaining that the country “does not have the financial resources to deal with another catastrophe like Agatha.”
Our personnel on the ground took direct action in the region affected by the rains. CECI has been working in this region since 2008 by leading a rural economic development project (PROSOL) in collaboration with SOCODEVI.
Photos taken in early September 2010 in Santa Caterina Palopo where the PROSOL project supports a textile cooperative. Photo: © Bernadette Theurillat
