SAN SALVADOR, Oct 12 (NNN-XINHUA/AGENCIES) — Tropical storm Julia has drenched the Central American nations of Guatemala and El Salvador, killing more than a dozen people across the region and forcing authorities to evacuate hundreds of residents and set up emergency shelters.
Julia has been downgraded to a tropical depression, bringing wind speeds of 60 kilometres per hour to Guatemala on Monday, down from 140km/h (85mph) when the storm hit the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua as a hurricane a day earlier.
“Life-threatening flash floods and mudslides should continue from Julia across Central American and Southern Mexico through Tuesday,” the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in an advisory.
The Miami-based NHC also said 13 to 24cm of rainfall was possible in El Salvador and southern Guatemala.
Guatemala declared a 30-day state of emergency on Monday to help authorities “implement urgent measures to safeguard the lives of Guatemalans”, President Alejandro Giammattei said on Twitter.
Julia has killed at least 16 people so far, authorities said, with El Salvador reporting the deaths of nine people, including five soldiers. The country’s civil protection agency also said at least 830 people had been evacuated and 80 storm shelters opened in response to the storm.
Two people were killed when a wall collapsed, and an elderly man died after a tree fell on his home, Deputy Interior Minister Raul Juarez said at a press conference.
Five army soldiers were also killed when a wall collapsed at a residence, local media reported.
Some 1,000 people are staying at 35 of 81 shelters set up by authorities, Juarez added.
In Honduras, five victims have been confirmed, including a 22-year-old woman who died on Sunday after she was swept away by floodwaters. A young woman and a four-year-old boy were killed when a boat capsized near the Nicaraguan border on Saturday night, officials said.
Honduran authorities said 9,200 people had sought refuge in shelters.
Panama’s emergency services later on Monday confirmed two deaths as a result of heavy rains, along with about 300 people evacuated from communities near the country’s border with Costa Rica.
Nicaraguan authorities said 9,500 people have been placed in storm shelters while 1,300 others were forced to flee their homes in Guatemala, where two people are missing and two have been hospitalised.
About one million people in Nicaragua’s coastal region lost power due to damaged landlines and a decision by the government to cut electricity for safety reasons.
Julia is the latest storm to bring flooding, destruction and deaths to the Americas.
Hurricane Ian caused widespread power outages in Cuba before gaining strength and slamming into Florida in late September, killing more than 80 people and inundating swathes of the US state. — NNN-XINHUA/AGENCIES
