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OO RUEHAO RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHGR RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHQU
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DE RUEHSN #1172/01 3422139
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 082137Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0118
INFO WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SAN SALVADOR 001172 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL MARR MOPS EAID ES
SUBJECT: Disaster Relief Update - Focus on Partnerships for 
Reconstruction 
 
REF: 09 SAN SALVADOR 1057; 09 SAN SALVADOR 1081; 09 FTR 2512 
 
¶1.       Summary:  According to a December 4 report prepared by the 
Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), El 
Salvador suffered nearly USD 240 million in damages and loss 
related to the November 7-8 rains caused by Hurricane/Tropical 
Storm Ida.  199 lives were lost as a result of the storm, and ECLAC 
estimates that 125,000 Salvadorans have been directly or indirectly 
affected, mainly in five rural departments.  To-date, the USG has 
provided USD 1.4 million to relief and reconstruction efforts, 
including over USD 1.2 million in assistance from the DOD and 
SOUTHCOM.  ECLAC estimates USD 343 million will be required for the 
rehabilitation and reconstruction of the affected areas, more than 
half (USD 181 million) related to the reconstruction of roadways 
and bridges.  While the GOES continues to request post assistance 
in restoring its bridge network, the USG country team was made 
aware of a recent IDB loan and Japanese cooperation that may help 
alleviate some of the  immediate reconstruction needs.  Post 
requests urgent consideration for additional 
reconstruction/mitigation funds. Subsequent high-level dialogue 
with the GOES should emphasize the need for the government to more 
quickly and effectively prioritize its reconstruction requests. 
End Summary. 
 
 
 
-------------------- 
 
Disaster Update 
 
-------------------- 
 
 
 
¶2.       In addition to the ECLAC report indicating USD 240 million 
in damages related to the November 7-8 rains, the GOES provided the 
following updated information, current for the week of November 23: 
 
 
 
  Deaths: 199 
 
  Missing: 76 
 
  In Shelters: 4821 
 
  Evacuated: 2614 
 
  Houses Totally Destroyed: 3003 
 
  Houses Partially Destroyed: 462 
 
  Houses in High Risk Areas: 1299 
 
  Bridges Destroyed: 43 
 
  Bridges Severely Damaged: 61 
 
  Highways Rehabilitated: 59 
 
  Highways in the Process of Rehabilitation: 70 
 
  Schools Damaged: 111 
 
  Clinics Damaged: or Destroyed: 25 
 
  Communities Affected by Damages to Potable Water Distribution: 
500 
 
  Estimated Amount of Damages to Water Systems: USD 10 million 
 
 
 
The departments most affected by the storm include: Cuscatlan, La 
Libertad, La Paz, San Salvador, and San Vicente. 
 
 
 
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USG Assistance 
 
------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3.       USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) has 
 
SAN SALVAD 00001172  002 OF 003 
 
 
contributed USD 281,851 to the immediate relief effort, including 
emergency relief supplies, procurement of local non-food items, and 
transportation.  OFDA supplies, which included items such as 
mattresses, hygiene kits, plastic sheeting, and water containers, 
have been distributed to affected areas.  Further assistance being 
considered by OFDA focuses on the provision of water supply, 
temporary housing, hosting programs, livestock and improved 
livelihoods.  A pending request from post for up to USD 15 million 
of anti-financial crisis stimulus funding could be pushed toward 
job creation in the areas affected by the rains, providing useful 
synergies across the program. 
 
 
 
¶4.       To date, USAID El Salvador is channeling small levels of 
existing resources from existing programs in health and education 
that support disaster response.  The U.S. Military through SOUTHCOM 
has provided over USD 1.2 million of assistance to the GOES for 
relief efforts, including delivering relief supplies to remote 
areas via helicopter, personnel, fuel, medical treatment (supported 
over 3000 people), and other transportation.  Engineering teams 
have traveled throughout the country to assess damage to 
infrastructure, and humanitarian elements have worked to 
rehabilitate water wells, schools, and clinics.  USD 7.4 million of 
equipment donated to the GOES through the 2008/2009 Foreign 
Military Sales Grant program has been mission critical to the 
relief effort, including trucks, heavy equipment, an ambulance, and 
radios.  Subsequent SOUTHCOM assistance will include previously 
scheduled events, such as MEDRETES, engineering exercises, and 
humanitarian assistance program projects that will be redirected 
toward the affected areas.  Future FMS, FMF, and IMET activities 
can also be tailored to assist with reconstruction as needs are 
identified, prioritized, and validated. 
 
 
 
¶5.       Discussions continue on how USAID and SOUTHCOM may be able 
to provide ongoing relief, buttress mitigation efforts and respond 
to requests from the government for financial support in the areas 
of infrastructure, transportation, agriculture, housing, and 
livelihoods. 
 
 
 
------------------------------- 
 
GOES Request for Bridges 
 
------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶6.       In the days immediately following the disaster, President 
Funes requested USG assistance in providing temporary replacement 
bridges, specifically Bailey Bridges, to provide emergency 
restoration of lines of communication between rural areas and the 
markets for their agricultural production.  During his recent visit 
to Washington, the Minister of Agriculture requested the expedited 
installation of Bailey Bridges to ensure that the current harvests 
of sugarcane and coffee would be able to make it to market before 
the end of March 2010.  Recent conversations with the National 
Sugar Association indicate the sugar industry spent approximately 
USD 150,000 of its own funds to rehabilitate roads and construct 
bypasses around two large collapsed bridges on the costal sugarcane 
route, restoring transportation along this key corridor.  Coffee 
producers, on the other hand, claim that road closures are still a 
major concern, especially in Santiago Texacuangos and the areas 
surrounding Lake Ilopango.  Discussions held in donor coordination 
meetings indicate the possible availability of a quick-fuse 
International Development Bank loan of USD 20 million that could be 
quickly allocated to repairing or replacing damaged bridges.  DoD 
personnel have told us that they do not have a stockpile of Bailey 
type bridges.   Purchasing Bailey bridges and installing them is 
costly and not a short term (less than 6 months) solution. 
 
 
 
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Needed Funds for a Way Forward 
 
----------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶7.       Faced with a USD 343 million estimate for reconstruction, 
with even more needed for mitigation and risk reduction , post 
requests urgent consideration of additional funding streams that 
can be directed toward assistance for El Salvador.  If additional 
 
SAN SALVAD 00001172  003 OF 003 
 
 
funds are received, resources would be prioritized based on urgency 
of need.  Prioritized needs include: (1)  immediate relief 
commodities (food, water supplies, blankets, etc.) for affected 
families both in and out of shelters; (2) reconversion of shelters 
back into schools before the January 15, 2010 opening of school; 
(3) assistance to reestablish affected families into viable 
livelihoods; (4) temporary repairs to transportation/communication 
systems to allow economic activity to resume; (5) provision of 
long-term infrastructure works and (6) improvement of disaster 
mitigation capability of inexperienced GOES personnel at various 
levels of government. 
 
 
 
¶8.       With regard to disaster preparedness, disaster management 
strategies need improvement, especially at the executive level, 
where turnover related to recent change in government left a 
deficit of know-how and experience that hampered relief efforts. 
Job creation programs, led by the GOES and potentially funded by 
new anti-financial crisis stimulus money, could target income 
generating schemes in traditional high-risk areas. Additional 
funds, perhaps provided by DOD, could be used to purchase 
materials/equipment/training for reconstruction projects led by 
Salvadoran Army engineers and builders hired from affected areas 
with some US DoD planning, technical, and working level support. 
Branding this sort of U.S. assistance as "Reconstruction Through 
Partnerships" would generate currency in our public relations 
strategies. 
 
 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
Engagement with the GOES 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶9.       USG assistance is being somewhat slowed by the lack of a 
decisive prioritization of needs on the part of the GOES. 
Ministers, mayors, and other state actors have reached out to Post 
to express their assistance needs, but in an uncoordinated manner. 
The President's Technical Secretariat is the lead organization in 
setting priorities and coordinating donor assistance and will meet 
with us later this week.  We will press for a rank-ordering of 
priorities and avoidance of duplication of effort. 
 
 
 
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Comment 
 
------------ 
 
 
 
¶10.   USG disaster assistance has had a significant, positive 
effect in El Salvador.  Working together with the GOES, we have 
saved lives and improved the living conditions for survivors in the 
affected areas.  With additional funding, we will be able to 
contribute to much-needed reconstruction and risk mitigation 
projects to further enhance El Salvador's disaster preparedness, 
while providing hope and opportunity for the victims of the floods. 
This is a Mission priority. 
BLAU