WEDNESDAY, JUNE 04, 2008

Tropical storm Alma kills at least two and causes widespread damage (June 4, 2008)

hurricane-alma-satelite-end.jpgTropical storm Alma smashed into Nicaragua on May 28 but caused less damage than feared. The first named storm of the Pacific hurricane season made landfall in the departments of Leon and Chinandega but caused floods and landslides from Costa Rica to Guatemala. For several hours Thursday, Alma was a category one hurricane with winds higher than 80 miles per hour according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Officially two people were killed by fallen electrical wires but media reports indicate a third person may have died and another missing after their car was swept away in a swollen stream.

The military reported that 4,036 people were evacuated in the departments of Estelí, Chinandega and Leon, Managua, Masaya and Rivas, and Boaco. Civil defense asked for 30 tons of food for victims in the different shelters, as well as potable water, medicine and galvanized metal roofing for 472 families. With resources stretched to the limit still dealing with recovery from last year's Hurricane Felix on the Caribbean Coast, even dealing with the less than expected damage on the Pacific Coast further strains the system. If you would like to make a donation to Tropical Storm Alma and Hurricane Felix recovery, the Nicaragua Network will send 100% of it to Nicaragua. Send a check or donate online at http://nicanet.org/?page_id=341. Under Other, write Alma and Felix.

Alma destroyed or damaged over 470 houses, many losing their roofs while an additional 222 homes were flooded. In addition, the winds damaged the baseball stadium in Leon, and a telephone relay tower in Puerto Sandino. By Thursday the area was returning to normal with most of the shelters in Chinandega and Leon closing as people returned to their homes. Emergency committees in each locality have provided families in the shelters with three day's food and plastic to cover damaged roofs until metal roofing is available.

On Thursday Leon only had 50 percent of its municipal water supply running and its sewage system was damaged. Crews from the state water company ENACAL were working around the clock to restore the system as were multiple electrical and telephone crews working to restore electricity and telephones to the affected area. Volunteer health brigades spread across the zone making recommendations to the population on what to do to prevent epidemics. ENACAL director Ruth Herrera reported that leased water trucks were supplying water in areas where well pumps were not working. In related news she reported that in the past 12 months ENACAL has spent US$6.176 million on new wells and that now 72% of urban residents have access to potable water. This is one more example of what can be done for the population when there is a political will to make policies that benefit people rather than corporations.

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