More than 120 die as storm hits El Salvador

Source: The Guardian

• At least 60 missing after floods and mud slides
• Louisiana emergency as hurricane Ida threatens

More than 120 people have been killed by floods and mud slides in El Salvador after a weekend of heavy rains driven by hurricane Ida. Authorities said 124 people had died and at least 60 were missing. About 7,000 more are in shelters.

"There are 60 people missing in just the province of San Vicente," t he country's interior minister, Humberto Centeno told reporters.

He said rescue workers were still struggling to reach some of the worst affected areas because of damage to roads. "We have been through disaster zones, including a fly-over of Verapaz (in San Vicente)," he said. "It is a real tragedy there."
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Ida strengthened to a category two storm yesterday as it made its way across the Gulf of Mexico, where it is expected to pick up steam moving over open waters. In the US, Louisiana's governor, Bobby Jindal, declared a state of emergency last night as the US Gulf coast braced for Ida's arrival by tomorrow. A hurricane alert was in effect from south-eastern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, although New Orleans which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, was not included in the watch area.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/09/el-salvador...