Red Cross Seeks $1 Million For Victims Of Agatha In Guatemala
By Dialogo June 04, 2010 The International Federation of the Red Cross launched an appeal seeking to collect a million dollars in aid for 7,500 people in Guatemala affected by Tropical Storm Agatha. The aid will contribute to providing “food and non-food relief items, emergency health care and shelter and water and sanitation” for 7,500 people over the next six months, the organization announced. In addition, the International Federation will send 300,000 dollars to its local branches in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador for the purpose of assessing the damage and offering food support and relief items to the victims. So far, aid for 5,000 people in the affected countries has been mobilized from Panama, according to a statement by Paco Maldonado, the coordinator of the International Federation’s Pan-American Disaster Response Unit, headquartered in Panama. The aid consists of hygiene kits, kitchen utensils, containers of water, mosquito nets, blankets, and water filters, according to Maldonado. Agatha, the first tropical storm of the 2010 hurricane season, dissipated Sunday after striking a heavy blow to the Pacific coast of Central America. The storm brought torrential rains that led to floods, landslides, structural collapse, and the blockage of access routes to a number of communities, leaving at least 184 dead and more than 100 missing, 50,000 people directly affected, and 140,000 people indirectly affected across the region, according to the Red Cross.