page_title: Tropical Storm Agatha
section_title: International assistance
hierarchical_section_title: Tropical Storm Agatha / Aftermath / International assistance
caption_attribution_description: English: Guatemalan soldiers unloading supplies from a Joint Task Force-Bravo UH-60 Blackhawk and giving them to residents affected by Tropical Storm Agatha.
context_page_description: Tropical Storm Agatha was a weak but catastrophic tropical cyclone that brought widespread floods to much of Central America, and was the deadliest tropical cyclone in the eastern Pacific since Hurricane Pauline in 1997. The first storm of the 2010 Pacific hurricane season, Agatha originated from the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a region of thunderstorms across the tropics. It developed into a tropical depression on May 29 and tropical storm later, it was dissipated on May 30, reaching top winds of 45 mph and a lowest pressure of 1000 mbar. It made landfall near the Guatemala–Mexico border on the evening of May 29. Agatha produced torrential rain all across Central America, which resulted in the death of one person in Nicaragua. In Guatemala, 152 people were killed and 100 left missing by landslides. Thirteen deaths also occurred in El Salvador. Agatha soon dissipated over Guatemala. As of June 15, officials in Guatemala have stated that 165 people were killed and 113 others are missing.
  In all, Agatha caused at least 204 fatalities, and roughly $1.1 billion in damage throughout Central America.
context_section_description: As Agatha dissipated over Guatemala, the Government of Mexico expressed their sincere condolences to the two countries and offered to provide the necessary support for them to recover. During the afternoon of May 30, as the true scale of the disaster became apparent, Álvaro Colom requested international assistance. However, due to the eruption of Pacaya, the country's international airport was closed and would remain so for at least another week. In an agreement with the president of El Salvador, it was decided that aid would be flown into El Salvador and transported by ground to Guatemala. However, later reports revealed that two of the four land crossings between the countries were closed off due to flooding and landslides. On May 31, Colombia and the United States offered their assistance by sending aid or helping evacuate residents. By the late morning, six United States military aircraft were en route to Honduras. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan also stated that they would provide aid to Guatemala if necessary.
  The Government of France also passed on their condolences to the countries suffering from the disaster and pledged to send emergency humanitarian aid to the region. This was eventually followed up by June 14 when the French embassy in Guatemala provided $50,000 in relief supplies. The initial response from the World Food Programme was to allocate $500,000 to feed 10,000 over a period of 15 days. Other United Nations departments provided much assistance to Guatemala within two days of Agatha's landfall. UNICEF donated roughly $50,000 to support water and sanitation; UNDP allocated $50,000 for assessments and early recovery; the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development provided roughly $185,000 in general humanitarian aid; and the IFRC and UNFPA planned donate $50,000 each. The United States provided immediate funds of GTQ 900,000 (US$112,000); USAID also planned to deploy relief teams with food and emergency supplies to bring to those affected by the storm. Additionally, several helicopters from the United States Southern Command were to be deployed in the region.
  By June 1, the European Union had sent $3.7 million in aid to Guatemala as well as Honduras and El Salvador. The Save the Children organization began distributing hygiene kits and other relief supplies on June 4. Over the following weeks, they planned to provide 46 metric tons of supplies.
  Extensive losses of the country's food supply left tens of thousands of residents without sustenance, leading to fears of widespread hunger in the nation. In attempts to lessen the severity of the hunger outbreak, the WFP set up over 200 shelters across the country and was estimated to be serving 50,000 people a day by June 9. On June 11, the United Nations made an appeal to supply Guatemala with $14.5 million to aid survivors of the storm. This appeal followed a $34 million request for the country prior to the storm for malnutrition incidents. By June 14, the Government of Japan had provided roughly $220,000 worth of equipment and building materials. Around the same time, ACT Development announced that it planned to assist roughly 2,000 families with all basic life necessities for a month. To start this operation, a preliminary appeal was made to the United Nations for $881,000; a second, full appeal was planned to be published on June 20.
caption: Guatemalan soldiers unloading relief supplies from a Joint Task Force-Bravo UH-60 Blackhawk
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