FLOODS, MUDSLIDES KILL SCORES IN EL SALVADOR

EL SALVADOR FLOODS: 124 DEAD AFTER FLOODING
AND MUDSLIDES FOLLOWING DAYS OF HEAVY RAIN

San Salvador (CNN) - At least 124 people have died and dozens are missing after heavy rains triggered flooding and mudslides that buried communities and left a swath of destruction in El Salvador, officials said. President Mauricio Funes has declared a national emergency, describing the damages as "incalculable". The capital San Salvador and central San Vicente province were the hardest-hit regions, officials say. San Vicente is virtually cut off by landslides and collapsed bridges. Interior Minister Humberto Centeno said 60 people were still missing, and about 7,000 more were in shelters.

The rains also triggered massive rock slides from the Chichontepec volcano that buried a number of houses in the town of Verapaz, also in San Vicente province, officials said. Large parts of El Salvador are without electricity or clean water and remain cut off from government aid, the BBC's Latin American correspondent Will Grant reports. News of the deaths came as Hurricane Ida, which has now strengthened to a category two storm, was poised to enter the Gulf of Mexico. However, Ida, which passed to the east of El Salvador three days ago, is not thought to have directly caused the severe rains. The BBC's weather centre said El Salvador's rains were mainly caused by a separate low pressure system in the Pacific.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

When the Grace of the Lord is bestowed on anybody, he will naturally give up all trifling desires and take shelter at the Feet of the Lord. So when the Elephant-king Gajendra was in dire distress being attacked by the crocodile, his immediate prayers to the Lord and submission to His Compassion were for the purpose of being rescued and saved from his imminent death. But when the Lord saved him out of His Grace from the terrible jaws of Gajendra's worst and powerful enemy, Gajendra was so charmed by the soul-captivating Beauty of the Lord's Person that he forgot all about his immediate danger and distress from which he wanted to be rescued, and prayed for pure Bhakti at the feet of the Lord.

Srila Bhakti Hridaya Bon (Vana) Maharaj
“Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu” - Commentary on Texts 21 & 22
Bhaktivedanta Memorial Library - www.bvml.org/SHBM/