Walking With El Salvador

As the rainy season typically comes to a close in El Salvador by November, the seasonal change has upon occasion caused horrific storms and tragedies across Central America, including in El Salvador.  As we freshly mourn the loss of life and homes caused by the landslide in Nejapa, we are watching a category 4 hurricane ETA bear down on the coast of Nicaragua.  El Salvador's Ministry of the Environment has issued a red alert warning of flooding and landslides.  Prayers are needed for wise preparations, smooth evacuations, and safety during the storm.  If you have not yet read about the landslide which occurred in Nejapa, you may wish to read the story I wrote a few days ago:  Landslide in Nejapa .  The story includes a little bit about Fe y Esperanza Lutheran Church, which is located in Nejapa. As I mentioned in the first story, the Salvadoran Lutheran church orchestrated a rapid response with emergency items for families impacted by the landslide.  Yesterday, some of our friends i

     Look up there.  Do you see where it is brown?  That used to be forest.  Coffee trees and forest.  As the farms below were taken for [sugar] cane, the farmers needed to plant their corn further up the mountain.  As the water is depleted in the valley, the whole zone is drier.  Trees die.  Trees are cut down.  The forest disappears.  If we don't take care of the aquifers, if we don't take care of the forests, there will be disasters.   Pastor Santiago Rodriguez Photo of the mudslide in Nejapa (Diario el Mundo) Photo of inspectors looking through homes after the mudslide.  (La Prensa Grafica) At 11:30 PM on Thursday, October 30th, families living near a wadi named Terraplén in the municipality of Nejapa were awakened by a thundering sound and shaking like an earthquake.  A landslide of rock, mud and vegetation was pushed down the gully by a great force of water - the result of torrential rains over the San Salvador volcano.  The slide left a path of destruction about 4 km in