On November 4th 2009, a tropical storm Ida began in the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua and caused five times the average precipitation expected for the month of November in El Salvador. The intense rains resulted in a mix of water, mud and sediment saturating riverbeds, already considerably silted by prior events, causing widespread flooding, lahars (mudflow) and landslides in El Salvador, with sever damages to urban, rural and transport infrastructure. In total, 199 deaths were recorded and an estimated 123,000 people were affected.
On November 7th 2009, the Government of El Salvadordeclared the state of emergency throughout the entire country. The international community responded quickly to the national government’s appeal for support in coping with the emergency. A team consisting of experts and specialists from the World Bank/ GFDRR, the European Commission and the United Nations (UN) system, particularly the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), the Joint Research Center of the European Commission (JRC), the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) and officials from more than 34 government agencies was formed to conduct a detailed Damage Loss and Needs Assessment (DLNA).
The DLNA estimated the total damages and losses at US$314.84 million, which represent the equivalent of 1.44% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Of the total, US$210.7 million correspond to the destruction of assets (damages), while the remaining US$104.1 million represent changes in economic flows and include both production losses and higher service costs (losses). The overall recovery, reconstruction and disaster risk reduction needs were estimated at US$343.97 million. The amount required for recovery was estimated at US$105.9 million, while the total amount required for reconstruction was estimated at US$149 million. A rough estimate of US$ 90.42 million was suggested to improve disaster risk management and reduction over a 10-year period.