El Niño push Panama and El Salvador to declare “state of emergency””

By admin3485, 1 September 2026

Panama and El Salvador have declared a state of emergency in response to the El Niño weather phenomenon, which is expected to be record-breaking. It has already forced authorities to reduce traffic through the Panama Canal.

Panamanian Interior Minister Dinoska Montalvo announced the state of emergency on Tuesday to prepare for the potential effects. The measure is intended, in particular, to expedite administrative procedures related to the phenomenon.

Last week, the Panama Canal Authority had already announced that, due to low water levels, the interoceanic waterway would reduce its traffic from 36 to 34 transits per day starting September 3, and then to 32 from mid-September. Approximately 5% of global maritime trade passes through this 80-kilometer-long canal.

Further north, El Salvador also declared its highest alert level on Tuesday in response to El Niño, which is causing widespread drought. No fewer than 14 temperature records were broken in August, according to environmental authorities. Indeed, the lack of rainfall in El Salvador has led to a drop in water levels and crop losses: according to the Salvadoran Chamber of Small and Medium-Sized Agricultural Producers Association, the first harvest of staple grains is expected to see a total loss of approximately 20% of production.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) recently estimated that Central America is likely to be the region most affected by the relative increase in food insecurity due to El Niño.