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Scores die in El Salvador floods Scores die in El Salvador floods
(about 8 hours later)
At least 124 people have been killed in El Salvador by flooding and landslides following days of heavy rain, the government says.At least 124 people have been killed in El Salvador by flooding and landslides following days of heavy rain, the government says.
President Mauricio Funes has declared a national emergency, describing the damages as "incalculable". President Mauricio Funes has declared a national emergency, describing the damage as "incalculable".
The capital San Salvador and central San Vicente province were the hardest-hit regions, officials say. The capital San Salvador and central San Vicente province were hardest hit.
Local reporter Juan Carlos Barahona says San Vicente is virtually cut off by landslides and collapsed bridges. Mud and boulders buried homes and cars in the small town of Verapaz, where rescuers dug into the night - some with their bare hands - to find survivors.
Mr Barahona, of the El Salvador daily La Prensa Grafica, told the BBC that the other worst affected areas were La Libertad, La Paz and Cuscatlan. The BBC's weather centre says the disastrous rains were mainly caused by a low pressure system in the Pacific, which was linked indirectly to a hurricane which passed the country three days ago.
Hurricane Ida was downgraded to a category one storm as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico on Monday.
Nonetheless, storm warnings remain in place along the Gulf Coast of the US, from Mississippi to Florida.
Massive rockslides
Soldiers joined residents of Verapaz, a town with a population of about 3,000 some 50km (30 miles) outside San Salvador, to dig through the mud with shovels under a persistent drizzle, the Associated Press reported.
The images that we have seen today are of a devastated country El Salvador's President Mauricio Funes In pictures: El Salvador floodsThe images that we have seen today are of a devastated country El Salvador's President Mauricio Funes In pictures: El Salvador floods
Interior Minister Humberto Centeno said 60 people were still missing, and about 7,000 more were in shelters. Emergency services said about 300 homes had been destroyed in the town, which was hit by massive rockslides from the Chichontepec volcano.
In the town of San Vicente rescue workers pulled bodies from the wreckage of houses. AP earlier quoted Red Cross spokesman Carlos Lopez Mendoza as saying 60 people there were missing.
"We rescued a man this morning who had fractures, and a little girl," resident Cristian Aguilar told Reuters news agency. The country's official death toll was not broken down by location but the deaths were concentrated in San Salvador and San Vicente province, where Verapaz is situated.
"My son and I crossed through the floodwater and brought them here, and now she is with her parents." "It was terrible," said Manuel Melendez, 61, whose home in the town was destroyed.
The rains also triggered massive rock slides from the Chichontepec volcano that buried a number of houses in the town of Verapaz, also in San Vicente province, officials said. "The rocks came down on top of the houses and split them in two, and split the pavement. I heard people screaming all around."
A local police officer told the Associated Press: "The weather continues to be bad, and we already have a river flowing through the village due to a landslide. We are worried things will get worse if the rains continue." We were able to see full trees floating by to the ocean Jaymes Kine, Playa El Tunco, El Salvador class="" href="/2/hi/americas/8349945.stm">El Salvador floods: Your e-mails
Large parts of El Salvador are without electricity or clean water and remain cut off from government aid, the BBC's Latin American correspondent Will Grant reports. Collapsed walls, boulders and downed power lines that blocked heavy machinery have been impeding the rescue effort.
He says that this is easily the biggest crisis the government of Mr Funes has had to face since coming to office five months ago. A reporter on the El Salvador daily La Prensa Grafica, Juan Carlos Barahona, told the BBC that San Vicente had been virtually cut off by landslides and collapsed bridges.
News of the deaths came as Hurricane Ida, which has now strengthened to a category two storm, was poised to enter the Gulf of Mexico. Other badly affected areas were La Libertad, La Paz and Cuscatlan, he said.
However, Ida, which passed to the east of El Salvador three days ago, is not thought to have directly caused the severe rains. About 7,000 people are living in shelters as a result of the disaster.
The BBC's weather centre said El Salvador's rains were mainly caused by a separate low pressure system in the Pacific. Large parts of the country are without electricity or clean water and remain cut off from government aid, the BBC's Latin America correspondent Will Grant reports.
"The images that we have seen today are of a devastated country," President Funes said on local television.
Our correspondent says that this is easily the biggest crisis the government of Mr Funes has had to face since coming to office five months ago.
Are you in El Salvador? Have you been affected by the floods? Send us your stories using the form below.Are you in El Salvador? Have you been affected by the floods? Send us your stories using the form below.
You can also send us your pictures and videos of the flooding to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to +44 7725 100 100. If you have a large file you can upload here.You can also send us your pictures and videos of the flooding to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to +44 7725 100 100. If you have a large file you can upload here.
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