In the News Again
Posted on September 6, 2010 - Filed Under Guatemala | 5 Comments
Apparently, Guatemala is in the news again, with all this rain. We keep getting the tails of hurricanes, as well as supposedly minor tropical storms. The problem is, this is more rain than we’ve had in years and after Agatha, everything in this country seems to be holding on by a thread. So, even minor rain can cause severe problems.
From what I’ve heard from people emailing to see if we’re ok, it sounds like the bus tragedy has been widely reported, where a bus was buried in a landslide. 12 people were killed.
On Saturday, some vehicles were also caught in a landslide, three people died and several survived and were dug out by townspeople . . . who stayed on to clear the road. Another landslide buried almost all of the men who were working on the road, about 37. At this point, they’ve found 22 of them, the rest are still missing. That’s the biggest story at the moment, but there have been more than a hundred people buried around the country and countless roads blocked by landslides.
None of this was very close to us and our area seems to be pretty stable, but I’ll be very, very glad when all this rain is done with! Today we have sun and I hope that will help those who are trying to dig out of the mud.
Comments
5 Responses to “In the News Again”
Talk to Me, People!
What a terrible tragedy, especially being so close to you (relatively speaking). Enjoy the sunshine you have today.
Yes, the 45 deaths caused by the mudslides in Nahualá made the front page of our small town’s daily newspaper here in Oregon. Very sad. I think the Associated Press picked it up because of the unusual aspect of so many rescuers being buried and losing their lives in the second mudslide. … I hope the sun stays out for you all down there.
Please pray for less rain! Supposedly the last 2 weeks of September and first 2 of October will be the worst.
Even if people try to stay off the roads, there´s always the fear of supplies not reaching their destination.
After living in Canada, how do you cope with the rainy season? That sounds very depressing. Six months of rain. I think I’d rather have snow. Since I’m considering moving to Guatemala, I’m interested in your take on this.
Thanks again for your blog.
Cheryl, I used to live on the West Coast, so it was actually worse . . . 24 hour rain for six months. At least here you get a bit of sun in the mornings!