4 Mormons among dead in El Salvador flooding
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Torrential rains across El Salvador triggered floods and mudslides over the weekend of Sunday Nov. 8, killing at least 130 people including four members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to a Church welfare report, but all Mormon missionaries are safe. In addition, between 16 and 18 Latter-day Saints are missing and presumed dead.
The rainfall was caused by a low-pressure system, which was linked indirectly to Hurricane Ida. The areas around San Salvador and the central province of San Vicente were hit hardest by the rainfall, setting off a mudslide near Verapaz that killed dozens of people and destroyed more than 300 homes.
More than 7,000 homes throughout El Salvador have been destroyed including eight Mormon Church member homes in the San Vicente District and five in the La Libertad El Salvador Stake. More than 30 Church members stayed the night in the La Torre Branch meetinghouse.
Local leaders are continuing to assess the situation and respond to member and community needs.
Two Mormon Church stakes in San Salvador have organized food, clothing and other relief supplies to send to the affected families; additional supplies are being purchased and distributed locally.
The Church welfare report also stated that preparations are underway as a rare late-season tropical storm was expected to hit the Southeast U.S. coast early Tuesday morning, Nov. 10.
By Monday Nov. 9, Hurricane Ida had weakened to a tropical storm and is expected to weaken further before making landfall. Tropical-storm warnings were in effect across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
Residents elsewhere in the Southeastern U.S. are bracing for heavy rain. There are no immediate plans for mandatory evacuations. Rainfall from 3 inches to 6 inches (up to 8 inches) is the biggest threat, particularly in areas already hit by flooding earlier this year.
