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Environmental Refugees - Hurricane Stan
In October 2005 Hurricane Stan swept through Central America causing massive destruction. Torrential rains saturated steep volcanic hillsides and destabalised land already made vulnerable by severe deforestation.
On the 5th October the villages of Panabaj and Tzanchaj, on the shore of Lake Atitlan, were hit by devastating mudslides . The fast flowing mud poured off the weakened slopes of the surrounding volcanoes. At around 4am it sped through the villages at high speed killing entire families as they slept. 1200 people were buried alive. In Guatemala alone, an estimated 2000 people lost their lives.
The rescue operation was called off around one week later, the area was declared a mass grave. The villages were essentially wiped off the map.
Survivors from Panabaj and Tzanchaj were relocated to Chiqisis, a village in the mountains, or housed in refugee camps. They are still there now. They live in a state of limbo, in constant fear of further mud slides and facing severe poverty, crop failure, lack of water, confrontation over firewood and shelter problems.
Although Climate Change can not be attributed to any single severe weather event, the overall trend is certainly towards more weather related disasters as the planet warms. It is undoubtebly the poor who suffer first and most from global warming and climate change.
