Devastating flood rains from Hurricane Ida pounded El Salvador this past weekend, taking the lives of over a hundred Salvadorans, causing the disappearance of scores more, and the dislocation of nearly 14,000 people nationwide.  On top of the sickening human toll exacted by the storms, over 60 percent of the country suffered significant property and infrastructure damage as well. 

El Salvador's president, Mauricio Funes, declared a state of emergency and ordered the military to assist relief workers and local residents to dig through massive mud and rockslides to reach isolated communities trapped amidst the chaos.  Reporting from San Vicente, a particularly hard-hit city in the country's eastern reaches, the BBC interviewed locals who witnessed the devastation firsthand.  '"It was terrible,' said Manuel Melendez, 61, whose home in the town was destroyed. 'The rocks came down on top of the houses and split them in two, and split the pavement. I heard people screaming all around.'"

The New York Times related more grim news.  "Mauricio Martínez, a taxi driver, lost his wife, Lolita; their 14-year-old son, Benjamín; and his wife's two nieces, Emilia, 9, and Gabriela, 6; after a wave of mud cascaded from a hillside onto the family's home in San Martín, a suburb of San Salvador. 'It was like an explosion,' said Abraham Hernández, a neighbor, who saw the house's cinderblock walls fall and Benjamín, buried up to his neck, calling out for help."

Large portions of the country are in desperate need of assistance.  The United Nations World Food Program estimates that 10,000 Salvadorans are in need of immediate help. Food and clean water provision are of the essence.  The floods wiped out huge swaths of agricultural crops ready for harvest, and trapped villages are presumed to have been cut off from clean water access. 

Various relief agencies and other NGOs have assembled emergency assistance programs.  The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has mounted a humanitarian mission through its Salvadoran chapter, and other trustworthy grassroots organizations like the SHARE Foundation and CISPES have also organized fundraising drives and supply runs in the country.

Speaking with the Times, Laura Mata of World Vision described the situation on the ground.  Describing the thousands of homes that were destroyed in just a few hours time, she noted that "There's a gloomy, sad air...A lot of homes are made of aluminum or mud.  Now they're gone."