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The best known hydrometeorological event is the El Niņo phenomenon, the
impacts of which can be severe. For example, after the El Niņo of 1983,
Peru's GDP fell by 12 per cent, mostly because of a reduction in agricultural
output and fishery. The national economy took a decade to recover. Damage
in the Andean Community countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and
Venezuela) due to the 1997/98 El Niņo was estimated at more than US$7
500 million (CEPAL 1999).
| El Niņo and epidemic diseases |
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Cyclical temperature and rainfall variations associated with El
Niņo are particularly important since they can favour the development
and proliferation of vectors of epidemic diseases such as malaria,
dengue fever, yellow fever and bubonic plague (WHO 1999). In South
America, the most severe outbreaks of malaria generally occur a
year after the beginning of an El Niņo event, whether associated
with an increase in rainfall (as in 1983 in Bolivia, Ecuador and
Peru) or with a reduction in rainfall and run-off (as in Colombia
and Venezuela).
A similar link has been suggested between the warming of superficial
oceanic waters by El Niņo, the proliferation of marine algae, and
the appearance of cholera in South America in 1992. The impact of
extremes in precipitation (both too much and too little) is also
important in the transmission of water-borne diseases such as cholera,
gastrointestinal infections and various types of diarrhoea. There
were outbreaks of cholera in 1997-98 in Honduras, Nicaragua and
Peru related to the increase in precipitation, associated with El
Niņo (WHO 1999, PAHO 1998).
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Most countries in Central America and the Caribbean are within the hurricane
belt, on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Hurricane Mitch, which
struck the region in 1998, affecting mostly Honduras and Nicaragua, killed
more than 17 000 people and left three million homeless with damage estimated
at US$3 000 million. The hurricane also caused fatalities and serious
environmental and economic damage in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El
Salvador and Guatemala (CRED-OFDA 2002).
The 1999 floods on the northern coast of Venezuela also had a strong
impact, with damage estimated at more than US$ 3 200 million or 3.3 per
cent of the country's GDP (World Bank 2000). In the state of Vargas, the
hardest-hit area, more than 230 000 jobs were lost. The state of Miranda
was also badly hit: the El Guapo dam collapsed, causing water shortages
and 60 per cent of crops were reported lost (MoPD Venezuela 2000). It
is estimated that there were 30 000 deaths, 30 000 families left homeless
and more than 81 000 dwellings destroyed (IFRC 2002).
| Ecological and social impacts of earthquakes
in El Salvador |
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The series of earthquakes that shook El Salvador in early 2001
began with one of 7.6 on the Richter scale that was initially considered
an isolated event. However, it was only part of a series that spanned
weeks and demonstrated the complex social and ecological implications
of such events. Besides the loss of life and infrastructure during
the original series of earthquakes, there has been a long-lasting
impact on people and ecosystems. For example, the artisanal fishery
lost an essential part of its docking infrastructure as well as
service infrastructure for processing fish and transporting it to
the market on land. A total of 30 772 farms were damaged and farmers
were forced to wait for three months for the rains because they
did not have the funds to repair their damaged irrigation systems.
The destruction of 20 per cent of the country's coffee processing
plants severely affected the jobs and income of thousands of rural
families in a country that was also affected by Hurricane Fifi in
1974, civil conflict between 1978 and 1992, the 1986 earthquake
and Hurricane Mitch in 1998.
Source: UNICEF 2001
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