The rainy season in Guatemala has already killed 28 people since May, most of them victims of landslides, affected more than two million people, rescue services announced on Saturday.
Ten of the victims died as a result of landslides in the department of Alta Verapaz (north), populated by indigenous people, said the Coordination for Disaster Reduction (Conred) in a report. Among the dead victims of the landslides is a mother and her six children, as well as three younger brothers, still among the indigenous population. “The department most affected by the rains was that of Izabal: in the municipality of Estor (northeast, on the Caribbean side) there were five floods and damage to cropssaid Conred spokesman Rodolfo Garcia.
There were also landslides in the departments of Guatemala, where the capital is located, Alta Verapaz (north) and Retalhuleu (south), according to the report. According to the spokesperson, 326 people have been evacuated and are in hostels. The regions most affected are those where there are mainly indigenous populations, who are most vulnerable to natural disasters. Nearly 60% of Guatemala’s 17 million people live in poverty.
In 2021, the rains caused the death of 35 people and left three missing, seventeen injured and some 1.5 million people were affected. Nearly 12,000 people had to be evacuated. The rainy season, which runs from May to November, kills hundreds of people every year in Central America, one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change.