By DPA,
Brussels : The European Union Tuesday sent 3 million euros ($3.7 million) in aid to the victims of tropical storm Agatha, which has killed at least 135 people in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
The storm, the first of the Pacific hurricane season, has caused widespread flooding and devastation, forcing at least 150,000 people to flee their homes.
“With the aid we are allocating today we are making an immediate gesture of European solidarity for the people of the region. We will continue, however, to monitor the situation closely, in case further needs arise,” the EU’s disaster-relief commissioner, Kristalina Georgieva, said in a statement.
The money, which is to be administered by international aid agencies on the ground, is intended to provide relief equipment such as emergency food supplies, drinking water and first aid kits, as well as primary health care, sanitation and emergency shelter.
The EU’s aid system allows the European Commission, the bloc’s executive, to offer relief of up to 3 million euros within 72 hours of a disaster striking anywhere in the world.
Depending on the scope of the emergency, the commission can then follow up with larger sums if its experts say that it is necessary.
“We can provide more money if need be,” Georgieva’s spokesman, Ferran Tarradellas, said.