Panama and El Salvador Declare Emergencies Amid Severe El Niño Drought

Panama and El Salvador declared states of emergency on Tuesday as the El Niño weather pattern triggers severe droughts across Central America. Panama's Interior Minister Dinoska Montalvo stated that the declaration allows authorities to prepare for the impacts of the phenomenon, which has already forced a reduction in shipping traffic through the Panama Canal. The canal authority announced that transits will be reduced from 36 to 34 per day starting September 3, and further down to 32 by mid September.

El Salvador has declared a red alert for meteorological and farming drought across its entire national territory. This measure activates monitoring, surveillance, and aid efforts for affected communities. The country's agriculture ministry has announced food assistance for rural families lacking irrigation systems, as the lack of rain has wiped out crops. According to the Association of the Salvadoran Chamber of Small and Medium Agricultural Producers, the first harvest of basic grains is expected to see a loss of approximately 20 percent.

Honduras has also placed 80 percent of its territory on alert due to crop losses of corn and beans. These countries are part of the Central American Dry Corridor, an arid strip including parts of Nicaragua that is highly vulnerable to extreme weather. All three nations broke monthly temperature records in June and July, and El Salvador has seen 14 temperature records broken in August alone. Further south, Peru declared a state of emergency in a third of its cities.

El Niño is a natural pattern occurring every two to seven years that raises surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. Experts suggest this year's episode is among the most intense in recent years and is contributing to a year predicted to be the hottest on record.