The sun has started to shine in El Salvador, but for many families in San Vicente province, the horizon is still dark. The search for their loved ones—those who were dragged away by floodwaters caused partly by Cyclone Ida—continues.

It seems every survivor has a painful story to tell, including Emilia, mother of two-year-old Melvin and baby Jairo. Emilia remembers:

“It was about one in the morning, when we heard a loud noise. It was the storm dragging everything on its way. I grabbed the two children and we went up on the mattress of the bed. But I lost my balance and I fell, holding baby Jairo in my arms. Only Melvin continued on the mattress that was being dragged. I tried to reach my neighbors, and handed Jairo to them so they could clean him and change his wet clothes. I went to look for Melvin, but I did not see him. I came back, because I was afraid that the neighbors had been dragged along with my baby. It was very anguishing. Forty minutes later, I was told that they had found Melvin, I ran…and we found him buried up to his waist. But thank God he was alive”.

Miraculously, Melvin only had some scratches on his body. The mother and two children are now out of danger, still very scared about what happened.

Emilia is a single mother and she does not have a decent house. Her home, made of metal sheets, was completely destroyed—the family lost everything. The few items that they were able to rescue were later stolen, a practice that has increased since the flood, with so many families left vulnerable.

 “It is sad that we lost everything, but those were material things,” says Emilia. “The important thing is that my children are fine and sound.” But while Emilia celebrates the lives of her two little ones, she also mourns the loss of five loved ones: her mother and four other siblings.

World Vision is responding to the needs of thousands of children and families affected by the storm, distributing emergency supplies such as blankets, mattresses, water purification tablets and water collection bags.  The response is expanding to include the distribution of kitchen supplies and emergency family and child hygiene kits (towels, soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, sanitary items, toilet paper, deodorant, razors, lotion, baby powder, cloth diaper, baby pins and baby bottles.)