El Nino-fueled drought: Panama, El Salvador declare emergencies as crops fail
Panama on Tuesday became the latest Central American country to declare an emergency over the El Nino weather phenomenon, joining Honduras and El Salvador. The move comes as a severe drought, intensified by El Nino, has already forced a reduction in shipping through the Panama Canal and is devastating harvests across the region.
Panama's Interior Minister Dinoska Montalvo said the declaration would allow authorities to "be prepared for what may come with El Nino," which has fueled drought conditions that are raising fears of famine in parts of Central America.
El Salvador, for its part, declared a state of maximum alert on Tuesday to activate monitoring, surveillance and aid efforts for affected communities. The Civil Protection department wrote on X: "We are declaring a red alert for meteorological and farming drought across the national territory."
El Nino is a climate pattern that raises surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, leading to shifts in global wind patterns, rainfall and weather conditions. It occurs on average every two to seven years, but this year's event is shaping up as one of the most intense in recent years. The phenomenon is also nudging up global temperatures in a year already predicted to be the hottest on record.
Central America is in the throes of a severe drought that has already prompted Honduras to place 80 percent of its territory on alert and forced the Panama Canal to cut shipping traffic because of dwindling water levels.
In El Salvador, the lack of rain, normally abundant at this time of year, has wiped out crops. The agriculture ministry has announced food assistance for rural families that do not have irrigation systems.
Several municipalities in El Salvador are located in the Central American Dry Corridor, an arid strip that also includes parts of Honduras and Nicaragua and is particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events. All three countries broke their monthly temperature records in both June and July, exacerbating concerns about food security. So far in August, 14 temperature records have been smashed in El Salvador.
Further south, Peru last week declared a state of emergency in a third of its cities over El Nino, warning that intense heat and rain could also cause havoc for food production.
The declarations reflect a growing alarm across the region as the effects of El Nino unfold. Governments are mobilising resources to monitor the situation, provide aid to affected communities, and prepare for potential further impacts. The situation underscores the broader challenges posed by climate variability and the need for disaster preparedness in vulnerable regions.
