U.N. official urges donors to provide more relief for flooding in Central America

Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Catherine Bragg on Tuesday "urged donors to give generously to assist Nicaragua and El Salvador cope with the aftermath of the recent floods, saying that the scale of the disaster is beyond what the small Central American nations can handle on their own," the U.N. News Centre reports. According to the news service, approximately 1.2 million people in the region are affected by flooding, "[t]housands of homes have been damaged and hundreds of schools, roads and health facilities are closed," and [w]ater-borne diseases are spreading ..., she added." Bragg also said food security was a concern, as thousands of acres of crops were destroyed, "'making it increasingly difficult for people to get enough food for the next six months,' she stated," the news service notes (11/8).