Tropical Storm Agatha floods kill 150, cause giant sinkhole in Guatemala City

[Da Ji]

By Sara Miller Llana, Staff writer / June 1, 2010

Cartagena, Colombia Villagers have been buried alive in Guatemala. Residents, caked in m&d, have searched in the wreckage of their homes for loved ones. Aerial photos show entire swaths of the nation's coffee crop under water. Then, there's the giant Guatemala City sinkhole. The Atlantic hurricane seasons opens today, preceded by the Pacific one just weeks earlier, but already seasonal weather – coupled with volcano eruptions and other freak accidents – has battered Central American nations.

More than 150 people have been killed, mostly due to flooding and landslides, after Tropical Storm Agatha, the first Pacific storm of the season, struck Guatemala Saturday, impacting El Salvador and Honduras as well. Thousands across the region are homeless. The worst hit nation is Guatemala. In the Chimaltenango Province west of Guatemala City, landslides buried dozens of communities, leaving at least 60 dead. "The department has collapsed," Gov. Erick de Leon told the Associated Press. "There are a lot of dead people. The roads are blocked. The shelters are overflowing. We need water, food, clothes, blankets — but above all, money."

Isolated villages

Although the sun emerged in Guatemala yesterday, the number of those dead could rise as rescue workers attempt to reach communities that have been isolated by washed out roads and bridges. Schools were shut down across the region, and the risk of more deadly landslides has not passed. In Guatemala over 110,000 people have been evacuated. In El Salvador, where 11,000 people have been evacuated and ten killed, 179 bridges were wrecked. The Lempa River already flooded 20 villages, officials say, and the Acelhuate River could top its banks and flood the capital. In Honduras, thousands have fled their homes as three more days of rain are forecast and rivers are already swollen near the capital, Tegucigalpa.

Floods follow volcanic eruption

The storm hit on Saturday, just two days after the the Pacaya volcano, about 20 miles south of Guatemala City, erupted, causing the international airport to shut down. Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom had declared a 15-day calamity, before Tropical Storm Agatha dumped three feet of water in the western part of the country. Officials have said that the ash from the volcano, which again covered the airport Monday, could aggravate flooding as it blocks the nation's drainage systems.

The Guatemalan government posted photos of the flooding tragedy, including one of a sinkhole apparently the size of an entire street block, that opened in the northern section of Guatemala City. A three-story building was swallowed by the hold. Authorities are investigating the cause. A sinkhole in the same area killed three people in 2007. Last November, Hurricane Ida struck the region, killing at least 150 people from landslides and flooding. The worst in recent memory was Hurricane Mitch, from the Atlantic Hurricane season, which in 1998 killed almost 11,000 people and left 8,000 missing.

--- Wire services were used in this report


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[Da Ji]

A giant sinkhole caused by the rains of Tropical Storm Agatha is seen in Guatemala City May 31, 2010.
<cite id="captionCite"> REUTERS/Casa Presidencial/Handout</cite>

Policemen chat next to a sinkhole caused by recent rains in Guatemala City May 30, 2010.
The hole, caused by rains from tropical storm Agatha, swallowed.


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[Da Ji]

Policemen try to remove a lamppost next to a sinkhole caused by recent rains in Guatemala City May 30, 2010.

A security guard looks at a sinkhole in Guatemala City May 30, 2010.

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[Da Ji]

Residents carry their belongings after being evacuated when a sinkhole caused by recent rains affected their homes in Guatemala City May 30, 2010.

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A sinkhole is seen in downtown Guatemala City on May 31. Authorities blamed the heavy rains from tropical storm Agatha as the cause of the crater that swallowed a three-story building and say they will also be conducting further studies to determine the cause. In April 2007, another giant sinkhole in the same area killed 3 people. Luis Echeverria/Guatemala's Presidency/AP
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A Los Angeles, Calif., fire engine sinks into a sinkhole while responding to a water main break in September 2009. None of the firefighters were hurt and it took hours to get the fire engine out of the hole. Gebe Blevins/LA Daily News/Newscom/FILE
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A sinkhole in Dunedin, Fla., is seen here in April 2007. Newscom/FILE



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[Da Ji]

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Workers assess damage done by a sinkhole near Chattanooga, Tenn., on May 18. The sinkhole was about 35-feet-deep, 40-feet-long, and 18-feet-wide. Danielle Moore/Chattanooga Times Free Press/AP

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An aerial view of a sinkhole in the San Diego suburb of La Jolla, Calif., is seen here in October 2007. The 150-foot hole destroyed a home as it sank and damaged five others in the area. No one was injured in the incident. John Gibbins/San Diego Union-Tribune/AP/FILE

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A sinkhole that formed in Spring Hill, Fla., is seen here in April 1998. The hole formed behind the Handy TV store in the morning, causing the back part of the store to fall into the hole. Olie Stonerook/Newscom/FILE
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[Da Ji]

Erica Whitehill looks at a large sinkhole in her backyard in Lutz, Fla., in July 2008.

A sinkhole in Seattle Washington engulfs a driveway and portions of 61st Avenue in Kenmore, Wash., near Seattle in March 2009. The ground caved in because a tunneling machine removed too much soil 150 feet beneath a home.

A sinkhole caused by recent raise in Guatemala City is seen here on May 30.


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[Da Ji]

A large sinkhole comes close to a home in Frostproof, Fla., in January. Two other sinkholes developed in the region, causeing US Highway 27 to be shut down in both directions.

Rescue personnel watch as a pickup truck slowly sinks into a sinkhole created by an underground jet of water coming from a broken water pipe in Wesley Chapel, Fla., in July 2002. The water was eventually shut off and the truck removed from the hole.

The Bimmah Sinkhole, a limestone sinkhole, is seen here between Quaryat and Sur in Oman.



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[Da Ji]

Chinese workers inspect a sinkhole in a Beijing street in February.

A sinkhole is seen in Tarpon Springs, Fla., in August 2009.



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[Da Ji]

Agatha leaves 183 dead


Jun 3, 2010
Agatha leaves 183 dead

<!-- by line --> <!-- end by line --> GUATEMALA CITY - STORM-RATTLED Guatemalans attempted to retrieve belongings on Wednesday as officials delivered food aid after a devastating Tropical Storm Agatha left 183 people dead across the region. Scores of countries have offered aid to Guatemala, worst hit by the first eastern Pacific tropical storm of the season that left 156 people dead and another 103 people missing in the Central American country alone.

Another 17 people in Honduras and 10 in El Salvador were among those who lost their lives as Agatha slammed the region with torrential rain, unleashing mudslides and raising rivers that washed away thousands of homes. 'We're taking advantage of the rain stopping to see if we can remove all the m&d that built up on the driveway of our house,' Julio Figueroa told AFP, saying walls of m&d had prevented him from checking on his belongings.

President Alvaro Colom said some 685 tons of food aid had been delivered to the massive number of displaced persons, with around 79,000 people seeking shelter from the storm. Among the 18 countries that offered aid, Brazil sent 20,000 tonnes of corn and 5,000 tonnes of rice, Argentina sent 16 tonnes of rice, Cuba offered a team of medics and the United States sent six support helicopters from a base in Honduras to aid with recovery efforts.

The European Union gave US$2.4 million (S$3.4 million) in emergency assistance. The World Bank has also said it was finalising a US$85 million loan to help Guatemala cope with the aftermath of the storm and a volcanic eruption. Officials meanwhile said a sinkhole that swallowed an entire three-storey building in the capital resulted from an overwhelming amount of water in the soil caused by Agatha's rains mixing with an unusual level of porous sand, after a volcanic eruption last week blanketed the region with ash and rocks.

No casualties were reported from the sinkhole, 21m in diameter and 31m deep, because the building was not occupied at the time. A 100m evacuation zone has been put in place around the hole in the densely populated neighbourhood, with residents only allowed in to retrieve belongings until authorities can determine the ground's stability. -- AFP

 

[chobolan]

US$1b to rebuild Guatemala


Jun 15, 2010

US$1b to rebuild Guatemala

<!-- by line --> <!-- end by line --> GUATEMALA CITY - REBUILDING in Guatemala after a devastating tropical storm last month could cost up to US$1 billion (S$1.4 billion) and the country must prove to international donors that it is making every effort to raise revenues through taxes, President Alvaro Colom said on Monday. 'We are getting strong support from the international community but Guatemala has to demonstrate that it has a high tax level and transparency,' said Mr Colom, who is pushing for fiscal reform to help fund the national budget.

About 160 people died in Guatemala when Tropical Storm Agatha dumped days of rain on Central America in late May bursting river banks and causing mudslides. Bridges, roads and more than 100,000 homes were destroyed Coffee farms were also badly damaged, which could reduce Guatemala's crop by 3 per cent. Mr Colom, touring one of the hardest hit parts of the country in the eastern department of Izabal, said it would cost between US$650 million and US$1 billion to repair damaged infrastructure.

Guatemala has received some international aid already - Japan donated US$220,000 in equipment and building materials, the United States gave hundreds of thousands dollars in emergency relief and the European Union has pledged three million euros for the recovery effort. Mr Colom's fiscal reform proposal, which includes raising income taxes, has faced stiff criticism from Guatemala's powerful business chamber and opposition politicians.

The bill has stalled in Congress and will not be reconsidered until August. Guatemala has one of the lowest tax collection rates in Latin America. 'It's no secret that Guatemala has stayed behind in the area of fiscal reform. We have to do something to prove ourselves to the international community,' Mr Colom said. -- REUTERS