by Nick Cooke, originally published in Nica News 18 (November 1998)

October, the month of the year when more rain falls than in any other month, was particularly vicious this year. Rains had been falling regularly throughout the country, skies were generally cloudy and grey, and people were thinking that the country was nearing the end of one of the best rainy seasons in the last 12 years.

Due to the El Niño climatic phenomenon, rainfall had been irregular and Nicaragua was plagued with droughts of varying duration that affected different parts of the country to varying degrees, generally having a negative impact on farm production.

This year, after a good first crop had been pulled in, farmers and government agriculture officials were expecting an excellent second crop and beginning to make plans for the third planting of beans, scheduled for late November and early December.

Rain was heavy and some people even attributed the strong tremors centered in the town of Ticuantepe, 18 kilometers south of Managua, to an overabundance of rain. Those earth movements put a scare into many residents in Ticuantepe and surrounding areas.

Damage was slight for the most part, but people were shaken and wary of the potential of Nature's wrath.

On Wednesday, October 21, reports of a hurricane approaching the Caribbean seaboard were issued by the Nicaraguan Institute for Territorial Studies (Ineter).

The hurricane, named Mitch, was heading straight for the coast, bringing back fearful memories of the last hurricane to strike Nicaragua: Joan in October 1988. Later that night, the capital Managua was witness to one of the most spectacular lightning storms and torrential downpours of the year.

The same happened in the late afternoon the next day. Data received from meteorological stations indicated that some 100 mm. (almost 4 inches) had fallen in less than an hour. The main arteries of the capital were flooded for a brief time, other roads were damaged partially, but everything was back to normal in short order, save for a few more potholes..

Monitoring Mitch

On Friday, October 23, the hurricane watchers reported that Mitch had veered north and was about to sweep the Caribbean coastline of neighboring Honduras. A collective sigh of relief was heard. However, given past experience with tropical storms that suddenly change course or that spin off cloud formations laden with precipitation, people throughout the country remained wary.

Rain continued to drizzle down all over the country on Saturday and another lesser tremor in Ticuantepe focused people's attention on the ever-present possibility of a major quake. The rains continued in the coming days and reports began to come in from the Bay Islands of Honduras which had been virtually scoured by the unprecedented 285 km. an hour winds of Hurricane Mitch.

The torment was very moving slowly compared to most hurricanes, but at least it was moving and expectations were that it would continue to do so.

Then, Mitch stopped and remained stationary off the north coast of Honduras, an unheard of phenomenon, while its winds maintained their destructive force.

Satellite images of Central America showed a swirling mass of heavy cloud blanketing the entire region. The rain continued without let up and became more intense.

By the middle of the last week of October, the first reports of flooding were being received. The waters of Lake Managua were rising, inundating poor neighborhoods and squatter settlements along its shoreline near the capital.

Rivers in the northwest and north central regions were rising rapidly. Then all hell broke loose in the form of the worst natural disaster in the history of the country in terms of the area affected.

Disaster? Emergency? It's bad!

Bridges were being washed away, people in low-lying areas were climbing trees to get out of the rising flood, entire cities were cut off, and numerous reports of deaths of people being swept away in torrents were coming in.

To give an idea of the how much rain was falling, the weather station near the city of Chinandega in northwest Nicaragua had over a meter of rain (about 40 inches) in over three days, with almost half a meter falling on Friday, October 30th.

Civil Defence, which is under the control of the Army, was hard pressed to respond to all the calls for help coming in via radio, telephone, or transmitted verbally by those who had managed to get out of affected areas.

Helicopters are the ideal vehicle for reaching areas cut off by flooding, but the incessant rain, inclement weather, and a permanent eerie mist hanging over the country limited visibility to less than a kilometer.

Before the arrival of helicopters from Mexico, Panama, and the United States, there were less than 10 helicopters available in the country and the air force had limited funds for fuel purchases. Texaco stepped in provide fuel for the flights, but it more helicopters were needed.

Plea for international aid

The government reacted immediately to the reports of death and destruction and put out an urgent plea for international assistance, arranging meetings with major donors to the country.

The Sandinista opposition party called on the government to declare a State of Emergency but President Alemán was reluctant to do so. He reasoned that such a declaration would put a brake on the economic recovery process underway in the country.

He also cited the concern that farmers could then use such a declaration to justify not repaying loans they had out from the banks -a common enough practice in Nicaragua in the past- and said this would discourage foreign investment.

Another concern he raised was that non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, many run by people unsympathetic to the present administration's policies, would be freed up to organize and distribute relief aid, thereby gaining credibility in the eyes of disaster victims. The government felt itself quite capable to organize and manage the relief work.

Furthermore, according to Nicaraguan legislation, a declaration of a State of Emergency would empower the government to suspend civil liberties, an idea which is anathema to the ruling Liberal Party.

Vice-President Enrique Bolaños recorded a television spot explaining why the government would not make such a declaration, noting that it had no interest in closing down cinemas, forcibly entering residences, or taking control of businesses (all allowed for in a declared emergency). Instead, it had opted to declare that the situation was a "partial disaster", effectively getting the message across without impinging on the rights of citizens.

To channel relief aid, President Alemán selected the Catholic Church. Asked by reporters why not use the channels available through NGOs, he noted that many of these had only been around for a few years, while the Church had been around for 2000.

Pledges of assistance were quick to come but reports of victims and physical destruction were coming in quicker. The worst was yet to come.

Murderous mudslide

In the afternoon of October 30, a massive mudslide raged down the slopes of Casita Volcano in northwest Nicaragua, near the town of Posoltega. (See story page 12.)

Whole villages on the south slope of Casita were engulfed by the torrent. Thousands died, and images of mutilated corpses and scarred survivors were broadcast almost non-stop on television.

Scenes of horror and destruction filled the front pages of the local daily newspapers. The victims were in shock, as was much of the nation.

Meanwhile, the FSLN opposition continued to insist on the need for a declaration of a State of Emergency. Political tensions between the two major parties rose significantly.

This natural disaster became a political football, with each side accusing the other of misdirecting relief aid to their supporters or of hiding food from people not in their party.

Though the rains ceased for the most part in the evening of October 31, the week that followed saw the politicking become as incessant as the rain had been the week before.

The following Sunday, November 8, Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo, head of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua called for an end to the political infighting. "The will of the donor has to be respected and to do so, to the extent possible, there should be no partisan politicking," he stated. The important thing, he noted, is that the aid reach the people affected.

Regarding the role of the Church in this relief work, Obando stated, "We Catholics make no distinction in creed, nor a distinction between political parties because none of the bishops participate in a political party. (...) We try to do what we can."

Medical aid

	The Panamerican Highway near Tipitapa, a few kilometers outside of Managua was cut by the flooding. Local fishermen rapidly organized an impromptu ferry service. Photo: Tomas Stargardter

Health workers in affected zones commented to the press that they were stretched to the limit, attending to unending lines of patients needing treatment at the refuges that have been established.

Healing wounds, issuing antibiotics, treating fungal infestations, giving counsel on treating water before drinking it, assuaging trauma: a multiplicity of taks calling for a Herculean effort in the midst of chaos.

Nicaraguan doctors, nurses, and health workers on the different scenes of the disaster pushed themselves to their limits.

A nurse treating survivors of the Posoltega mudslide expressed her desire that helicopters ferrying reporters to the scene carry medical supplies instead. More staff was needed, and is needed still.

The Cuban government offered to send doctors and medical supplies to help Nicaragua. President Alemán stated that any amount of medicine that Cuba was willing to donate was more than welcome, but more doctors were not needed. Explaining this to the press, he stated, "As you all know, we have plenty of doctors here." Five months ago, the Health Ministry had released a number of doctors on staff in State-run health facilities due to budget constraints.

Ensuring aid delivery

Concerns about corruption in the distribution of relief assistance are rooted in the historical memory of the Nicaraguan people. Many were alive in 1972 to witness the wanton graft by corrupt officers in the National Guard after the earthquake that razed the center of Managua in December of that year.

This combination of greed and disregard for human suffering contributed significantly to the rise in sentiment against the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle, leading to his overthrow in July 1979.

Donors are doing what they can to ensure that the aid gets to where it is supposed to go, and the National Assembly is taking steps towards setting up a way to oversee the fair distribution of food, medicines, and supplies.

The government watchdog agency, led by Comptroller-General Agustín Jarquín, has a team of auditors checking on the distribution of the aid.They have noted no anomalies, with the exception of some of food aid being sold on the black market. The amount, however, is minor in comparison to the quantities involved.

Nevertheless, there have been some incidents of hoarding and speculation by private merchants manipulating stocks of basic foodstuffs so that prices will rise, bringing higher profits. On November 11, the National Assembly passed the Law for Consumer Defense which gives legal teeth to efforts to put a stop to such corruption in the private sector.

One of the first to fall was a merchant in a Managua marketplace who had hidden 300 100-pound sacks of beans in a veterinary products storeroom, waiting for the price to rise. Rather than confiscating the beans, police forced him to put them up for sale in the market.

Meanwhile, the government announced that it will import 11,000 tons of beans from the United States and 15,000 tons of corn from other countries to offset the shortfall of basic staples caused by the massive destruction of crops all over country. The hope is that with an abundance of these foodstuffs on the local market, people will not have to pay the higher prices being charged by speculators.

God helps those who help themselves

Something noteworthy about the relief efforts is the amount of aid being raised locally from private citizens and businesses. There was a telethons that raised over 5 million córdobas and appeals for aid were made to society at large.

Many local firms and even international companies investing in Nicaragua have contributed their "grain of sand", as is said here in Nicaragua, to the collection efforts.

Coming to the fore in this time of disaster, people have contributed to organized public campaigns while others have simply gone out with their family or friends to affected areas small cargos of food, clothing, and medicine in their vehicle.

More is needed still. The magnitude of this disaster is difficult to comprehend in any terms. An already bad situation for impoverished residents of areas affected by Mitch has been made much worse.

As Army General Joaquín Cuadra commented after a week of relief activities, "Many of these people needed emergency food and medical aid even before the disaster. The victims are the poorest, and they are even poorer now."