The aftermath of Tropical Storm Julia

Caserío El Icaco, Usulután

It is still wet and muddy in El Salvador two days after the passage of Tropical Storm Julia along the length of this small country.       

According to authorities, as of Wednesday night, the death toll stood at 10.  There are 102 open shelters providing refuge to 2837 people -- 947 families, 1580 adults and  1,257 children. The government said that 433 homes were damaged, 190 landslides occurred, and there were 294 locations where roads had been impassable for some portion of time.

El Salvador is seeing widespread agricultural losses as small farmers lost crops in their flooded fields.  More than 17,0000 acres were affected, with reductions in rice and bean harvest being forecast, as well as damage to 5% of the coffee crop.

Tuesday, the president's office revealed that Nayib Bukele had visited the site in Comasagua where 5 soldiers had perished in a mudslide. The president ordered the country to fly flags at half staff in memory of the 10 Salvadorans who lost their lives during the storm.

On Wednesday, the schools in 52 municipalities still at risk remained closed.  

There is ongoing concern that more rains may affect the country in coming days producing possible additional flooding and chaos.  The country remains under a red alert with the environment ministry warning there remained a "very high" probability of more urban flooding and landslides.

President Bukele posted to social media:

We have worked with all our strength to attend to the emergency caused by Tropical Storm Julia. And we continue to work, saving lives, caring for the victims, opening roads and reestablishing the supply chain.

In a few days we will start with the reconstruction of all the damaged infrastructure. And we will not only restore it, but we will build it better. Much better. God bless our country.

The government produced this video about its response to the storm:

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