Panama and El Salvador declared a state of emergency yesterday due to heavy rainfall and severe droughts attributed to the El Niño phenomenon, which has already led to an announcement of reduced traffic through the canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
El Niño is a natural phenomenon that occurs at regular intervals, every two to seven years. The surface waters of the central and eastern Pacific near the equator warm up, causing dramatic changes in wind patterns, pressure patterns, and rainfall on a global scale. The climate becomes warmer and drier in some areas, colder and wetter in others, while extreme weather events are triggered.
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The decision to declare a state of emergency in Panama stems “the need to be prepared to deal with whatever may happen” due to the phenomenon, explained Interior Minister Dinóska Montalvo during a press conference.
The measure will allow administrative procedures to be expedited in order to address the consequences of El Niño, which is estimated to be the strongest on record this year.
Due to the lack of rainfall, the Panama Canal Authority announced that, starting September 3, it will reduce the number of ship transits from 36 to 34 for all types of vessels; subsequently, further reducing them to 32 starting September 15, as announced by the relevant authority last week.
Approximately 5% of the volume of goods transported by sea worldwide passes through the 80-kilometer-long canal; among the countries that are its main users, the U.S. and China stand out.
Further north, El Salvador also declared a “red alert” yesterday due to the drought attributed to El Niño, which has already resulted in crop losses.
Salvadoran authorities declared the highest alert level yesterday, Tuesday, due to the drought attributed to the El Niño phenomenon, which has already caused crop losses, the civil protection agency announced.
“A red alert has been declared due to the drought (…) throughout the country,” said the Salvadoran civil protection agency, as the Central American country has been facing widespread drought and recorded 14 record-high temperatures in August.
The measure provides, among other things, for close monitoring of water resources and crops, the declaration of a state of emergency in affected communities, and the strengthening of epidemiological surveillance, the agency clarified.
Source: CNA
