Reina's Story

Reina is from a poor community in El Salvador. They live in a valley, between a river which is prone to flooding and a steep incline which leads to landslides during heavy rains.

When Hurricane Stan struck the area in 2005 it dislodged tonnes of earth which slid down the hillside and buried her home in mud.

Reina told SCIAF about the aftermath of the storm.

“Hurricane Stan left a big mark on us because we all lost loved ones.

“Every family experiences disaster differently, it depends where their house is located. This is a poor community and it’s cheaper to buy a house near the river, because you are most at risk there.

“Everything started in October. We realised that the weather had begun to turn bad. That night, I finished work and closed the windows, boarding them for protection. I went to sleep but I realised the storm was getting stronger. As a security measure we slept on mattresses near the front door so that we could escape.

“My eldest son has to be at work by 6am, so I got up at five to make his packed lunch. Whilst I cooked I looked at my rose garden, I wanted to see how the storm had affected my plants. I saw the roses blowing and then the first mud hit the wall. The dogs were whining to get into the house. The mud was coming in through the windows and battered the door. More and more mud kept coming and I had to get out.

“I knew we had to head up the road, to higher ground. The river was overflowing. There wasn’t time to take anything from the house, only the clothes that we were wearing. My daughter went barefoot.

“The telephones had stopped working. Everyone was leaving their homes and going to shelter in the chapel. No-one had thought that the chapel would be a refuge but it was the natural place to gather.

“People from other communities brought clothes for the old people and the children and also food and necessities. There were 75 of us living in the chapel for 22 days. It was a very difficult experience.

“It’s left its mark on each and every one of us for having lived through it together. After three days the effects became apparent, lots of the children got fever and diahorrea. After the rain stopped the people that still had houses went back to them. I lived with a neighbour for nine months.

“The most difficult thing to live with is the emotions – the trauma lasts.

When it rains hard I get scared and sometimes I find it hard to sleep at night because I am afraid that it might happen again. I look at everything that our community has worked so hard to achieve and know that we can lose it all in a minute, even our loved ones.”

With help from SCIAF’s partner, Fundahmer, Reina’s community has built a protective wall between the steep hill and their homes to prevent landslides and flooding from leaving them homeless again.

Fundahmer also run workshops to help educate people in vulnerable communities on what to do in an emergency so that they can be better prepared in the face of ever more frequent and severe hurricanes.

Climate change is happening and it is poor communities like Reina’s who are paying the price, even though they have done least to cause it.