Guatemala halts recovery effort after mudslides

Since I've been to Guatemala five times with our parish mission, some people have asked if the areas I've visited were affected by the recent hurricane. Most of the people displaced by the storm were on the Pacific coast. I've only visited the inland Western Highlands. The village buried by the mudslide was Panabaj, on the outskirts of Santiago Atitlan, on Lake Atitlan. The orphanage our mission visits is in Santa Apolonia, to the east. I have not heard of damage there. There were some buildings destroyed in Tecpan, a few miles away, and along the Pan American Highway back to Guatemala City.

For reference, here's a more detailed map of Guatemala [PDF].

Update: Email forwarded from Santa Apolonia says the town was without electricity and telephone for several days due to the heavy rains, otherwise all is well but wet. People in the mountain villages, however, lost family members and homes. The sisters (SSSF) are helping at a refugee camp in nearby Tecpan. If you read Spanish, here's a report on the storm's aftermath in today's Prensa Libre, a Guatemala City newspaper.