Guatemala City, Oct 10 (AGN).- The President Alejandro Giammattei led a press conference to provide details on the care given to people affected by the passage of Tropical Cyclone Julia in Guatemalan territory.
During his speech, the president stressed that, for this emergency, the institutions have provided a more agile response.
I think the response has been much faster and more effective. We had the advantage of having an early warning. Previously, with Eta and Iota we did not have the opportunity to prepare, he remembered.
Likewise, he mentioned that when learning about the approach of the phenomenon, the Government not only prepared itself but also communicated it to the population.
It is important to tell people so that they can take action and that has been one of the lessons learned, he added.
Similarly, Giammattei recognized the work of the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred).
At the press conference was the executive secretary of said institution, Oscar Cossío; as well as representatives of the National Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology (Insivumeh) and other officials.
#Live | President @DrGiammattei participate in #GTPressConference since @ConredGuatemala. https://t.co/zvoZeZMmG4
— Guatemalan Government (@GuatemalaGob) October 10, 2022
Report
Conred’s latest report states that Tropical Phenomenon Julia affected 436,112 people.
Likewise, 1,355 were evacuated, 569 were affected and 381 are at risk. There are also 1,770 sheltered people and at least 8 deaths.
In terms of damage to infrastructure, 571 homes were damaged, 48 roads affected and 8 bridges affected, as well as another 2 destroyed.
care phase
President Giammattei pointed out that, although the tropical cyclone has been downgraded to a remnant, it is expected that there will still be rain in the next 72 hours.
Given this, he recalled that the Guatemalan territory is already saturated, so it is not ruled out that there could be floods or landslides. In that sense, he called on the population to be vigilant and heed the recommendations that Conred issues.
On the other hand, he announced that the Government of Mexico will support the country to distribute electricity to Guatemalan homes, since there are 167 thousand of them without access to the resource. Service for these families is expected to be restored within two to three days.
He also announced that the humanitarian aid group, which includes embassies and international organizations, will meet on Tuesday.
Currently, the Government is counting the loss of crops to support the affected farmers, for which an international call for help is expected.
What we want is not only to provide a bag of food to support the emergency of a week, but to feed them while they return to farming, he explained.
Given the passage of tropical depression Julia 🌧️ to the producers the #MAGA recommends:
#TogetherLet’sMoveForward pic.twitter.com/RNu7vh0QHS
– MAGA Guatemala (@MagaGuatemala) October 10, 2022
Food assistance
In addition, he pointed out that this Tuesday certain areas will be evaluated to begin providing air support and reaching distant communities that need to be evacuated.
There are people who need food assistance. Tomorrow we will see in which places we are going to give that air support, said.
However, he recalled that the Executive has already distributed food by land and will continue to reach the vulnerable population.
Finally, he mentioned that there are 6,500 housing kits to provide a minimum roof to people whose houses have been damaged.
Given this, he recalled that to provide this support there must be a current state of calamity and Conred needs to issue an opinion certifying that a person lost their home. However, the President stressed that the necessary items are available, since to date 171 homes have been recorded with severe damage.
Also read:
Incidents recorded by tropical phenomenon Julia are updated
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