PDNA Evaluation of the effects, impacts and needs El Salvador is facing due to the double incidence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the tropical storms Amanda and Cristóbal

The Government of the Republic of El Salvador, in order to respond to the areas affected in the emergency caused by tropical storms Amanda and Cristobal, in addition to the confluence of the COVID -19 pandemic, made the decision to conduct a Post-Disaster Needs Assessment, which will allow to quantify the effects of both events. El Salvador is the first country in Latin America to achieve this combined event analysis. With the assessment, the recovery costs that the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the country would entail are estimated, using to this end the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) methodology, developed jointly with the European Union, the World Bank and the United Nations System.

The estimated needs derive from the effects that confinement and containment measures that the management of the pandemic required until May 2020: the loss of income, the increase in costs to ensure the provision of sectoral services and the unexpected costs that had to be incurred for respond to the pandemic. These needs increased with the arrival of tropical storms, which added a scene of destruction of infrastructure and physical assets and increased economic losses in various sectors.