News coverage (finally) of the floods

Over the past several few days there have finally started to appear more complete news stories in the English language press related to the Deluge of 2011.   The coverage may be related to an emergency appeal by the United Nations to raise disaster relief funds for El Salvador.  The UN's assessment of the situation is to the point:

25 October 2011 –
United Nations aid agencies are ramping up their efforts to provide shelter, food and health care to El Salvador, which is facing one of the greatest disasters in its history as heavy rains continue to cause severe flooding across Central America. 

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported today that 56,000 people have been displaced and many are in need of water, food and sanitation. The agency also said there has been an increase in reported cases of flood-related illnesses such as diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, chicken pox, and dengue fever. 

During a press briefing in Geneva, OCHA spokesperson Elisabeth Byrs said a $15.7 million joint flash appeal with the Government was launched today with the aim of assisting 300,000 people in the next six months. 

OCHA estimates the overall number of affected people to be 1.2 million, but said this figure was constantly evolving. 

The appeal will focus on providing shelter, drinking water, food and health services as well as actively monitoring the country’s two principal volcanoes, as there is particular concern about possible mudslides and seismic movements in populated areas, including San Salvador, the capital.

Following the UN appeal, Reuters AlertNet published an article about the need for aid dollars to prevent a food crisis in El Salvador.

UNICEF published a report on its website about families displaced by the rains, along with this video:

The BBC had a story about the damages caused by the floods with a particular focus on the loss of food production.

IPS ran a piece titled Central America slowly learning the value of disaster prevention.

Bloomberg, like the Wall Street Journal, has only commented on the impact on coffee exports.

The Washington Post had an article titled D.C's Salvadoran community aiding flood victims.

The Christian Science Monitor ran my blog post from October 24.