El Salvador and Guatemala hit by tropical storm Amanda, at least 14 dead

The first storm of the season hit the Pacific Ocean. Amanda blew Sunday May 31 in Guatemala and El Salvador, causing the death of at least 14 people in the latter country, where a state of emergency was declared.

The powerful storm Amanda has been maintaining since Saturday off the coast of Guatemala and generates heavy weather which sweeps the two countries of Central America, causing rivers to overflow and causing widespread power outages.

Tropical storm Amanda in Central America. Worried thoughts to populations living in very precarious situations and very fragile dwellings in Guatemala and El Salvador: in the 1st line also to suffer the csqces of the chgt. climate😞 # Solidaridad #hurricane 🇸🇻🇬🇹 https://t.co/0NeNhYqwnU

"An unprecedented situation"

Faced with the additional risk of landslides, the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, declared Sunday a state of emergency for 15 renewable days. "We have experienced a rather difficult situation (...). We deplore 14 deaths" and "this number may increase," said the Minister of the Interior of El Salvador, Mario Duran.

Ten people died in the capital San Salvador and its suburbs, and three members of the same family died in San Juan Opico in the department of La Libertad (center) according to the authorities, who did not specify where had been produced the 14th death. In addition, one person is missing in San Salvador.

In San Salvador, at least 4,200 people have taken refuge in shelters set up by the Civil Protection after losing their homes or being evacuated because of the risks, according to the mayor of the capital, Ernesto Muyshondt.

"We are living in an unprecedented situation, a large-scale emergency which is added to another enormous one, which our country has never known before," said Muyshondt, referring to the coronavirus pandemic.

Landslides and landslides

Salvadoran Civil Protection had previously declared a red alert, involving the rescue of the victims by brigades of aid organizations and by the army.

Salvadoran Civil Protection director William Hernandez reported the flooding of more than 200 homes across the country, caused by overflowing rivers, and the evacuation of residents. He also reported landslides, flooded streets and power outages.

"In the next few hours, it will continue to rain, which will cause the increase (of the flow) of the rivers, landslides could occur on the roads (...) and floods on the south coast", indicated l '' Guatemalan Disaster Prevention Agency (Conred).

As the rains are expected to continue until Monday, the El Salvador ministry of the environment has asked people to prepare for the "high probability" of multiple landslides and landslides.

The Minister of the Environment, Fernando Lopez, said that torrential rains had poured in the past hours 400 millimeters of water, while the annual average is 1,800 millimeters.

In El Salvador, which has 6.6 million inhabitants, 87% of the 20,742 square kilometers of the territory are considered to be very vulnerable to climatic phenomena.

With AFP

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