Hurricane Eta, which left more than 200 people dead and missing in Central America, has “Devastated the lives of more than 1.2 million children” in the region, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) is alarmed on Wednesday 11 November.
The number of miners affected by the passage of the storm “Should increase as the rescue teams [pourront] access the most affected areas ”, specifies the UN agency.
Eta, which first struck Nicaragua as a Category 4 hurricane, swept through Central America with torrential rains. Reduced to the rank of tropical depression by its passage over the Central American isthmus, it then returned to the Caribbean Sea.
It caused serious damage throughout the region, including road infrastructure, hospitals, schools and water and sanitation networks.
“Risk of contamination by Covid-19”
According to the UN agency, more than 110,000 victims, including some 44,000 children, have been evacuated to temporary shelters in the seven Central American countries. Many families are now homeless, or have remained stranded, cut off from the world, on the roofs of their homes in flooded areas, warns Unicef’s interim director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Bernt Aasen.
The organization has started distributing hygiene equipment such as water tanks, water disinfection tablets and water quality testing kits, as well as games for children.
“Access to water and sanitation has become very problematic in the areas affected by Eta”, what “Increases the risk of diseases transmitted to children by water, as well as the risk of contamination with Covid-19 in shelters”, insists Mr. Aasen.
