In the Aftermath of Tropical Storm Stan

a village has become cemetery

Between the 4 and last 9 October, the Guatemala coastline and the mountain areas in the west of the country were struck by torrential rains with Hurricane Stan. Mudslides occurred almost everywhere in the country, causing the death of several hundred people and the disappearance of many more. Some 1.5 million people were directly affected. Panabaj is one of the village suffered from this tremendous disaster.

Panabaj was once a picturesque community located on the side of a volcano by Lake Atitlan in Guatemala and inhabited by Mayan farmers belonging to the Tz'utujil ethnic group. Now it is an enormous expanse of dry, silent mud from which one can see tree branches and the remnants of houses and church rooftops jutting out following the mud avalanche caused by Tropical Storm Stan in Guatemala.

Rescue teams only succeeded in recuperating 76 bodies among which 41 were children and most of the rest women. Volcanic ash coming from the volcano caught them unawares and poured into their homes during the night burying them alive. The number of inhabitants of Panabaj and the cantons nearby Santiago before the disaster is not accurately known but the last census in 2000 reported 6000 people.

Panabaj was declared a high risk area and five days after the tropical storm, access was banned and the authorities used quicklime over the tons of mud to prevent diseases from spreading. This measure may have a psychological impact, "The fact that people have not been able to recover their dead or go back to the places where the mud took people away is extremely difficult for the survivors, because it prevents them from mourning the losses," explains Zohra Abaakouk Médecins Sans Frontières mental health referent in Santiago de Atitlan.

The families that managed to escape in time are staying in makeshift shelters in Santiago de Atitlan. In some churches and schools, up to 500 people are sleeping on the floor while outside, the town starts resuming its normal pace: handicraft shops have opened and the market place is full of vegetables. However, for many families that have suffered losses, makeshift shelters may become permanent situations.

"At first, cohabitation can be positive because it means safety and company, but if it goes on like forever it becomes a problem and gives rise to conflicts due to forced cohabitation with unknown people", says Zohra Abaakouk.

Ernesto and his wife, their 6 children and 2 grandchildren were lucky because the landslide missed their home by just a few meters. His two nieces were killed, but he thinks that it is God's work that he is still alive and he explains he prefers to stay in the shelter to going back home. The founded or unfounded rumour that rain can pour down again unfolding a new tragedy prevents more than one person from sleeping just a fortnight after the storm that had a more devastating effect on Guatemala than Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

MSF Work in Guatemala

MSF is now providing relief in the most-affected areas of the country and provided first-aid kits and potable water. The main needs are for water and sanitation support and epidemiological monitoring. MSF has also carried out assessment missions in isolated areas such as Malacatan, close to Mexico and Champerico, in the south.

MSF has been present in Guatemala for the past 19 years. There are 65 staff members, expats and national staff, working at the emergency.