Central America is one of the most deforested parts of the world, losing 118 acres of trees an hour . El Salvador lost only a few people from mudslides. Trees hold the soil together and help it absorb rain. When the land is stripped of trees, heavy rains sweep mud and minerals into the rivers, swelling and clotting the water and increasing its power to destroy. The erosion caused by Mitch will speed this vicious circle and increase the destructive power of future storms.
Deforestation has other consequences.
It reduces soil fertility, crucial in a country of subsistence farmers. In addition, because less rain is reaching the subsoil, aquifers dry up and the country begins to run out of water. San Salvador's water table drops a meter a year. In Honduras , commercial logging , much of it aimed at North American markets, causes some of the deforestation. El Salvador has no logging, but its deforestation is the worst in the hemisphere after Haiti.