Tropical Storm Julia Drenches Central America with Rainfall

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Tropical Storm Julia drenched Guatemala and El Salvador with torrential rains Monday after it reemerged in the Pacific following a pounding of Nicaragua.

Police said two people died in the eastern El Salvador town of Guatajiagua after heavy rains caused a wall of their home to collapse. Rivers overflowed their banks and El Salvador declared a state of emergency and opened 70 storm shelters.

Julia hit Nicaragua’s central Caribbean coast early Sunday as a hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 kph) and survived the passage over the country’s mountainous terrain, entering the Pacific late in the day as a tropical storm..

By Monday morning, Julia´s winds were down to 40 mph (65 kph).

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Julia was centered about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of San Salvador, El Salvador, and was moving west-northwest at 15 mph (24 kph).

The center said life-threatening flash floods and mudslides were possible across Central America and southern Mexico through Tuesday, with the storm expected to bring as much as 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain in isolated areas.

In Guatemala, two people were listed as missing and two were hospitalized, and about 1,300 people had to leave their homes because of flooding and rising streams.

Julia was expected to weaken further and dissipate later Monday as it passes along the Guatemalan coast.

Colombia’s national disaster agency reported Sunday that Julia blew the roofs off several houses and knocked over trees as it blasted past San Andres Island east of Nicaragua. There were no immediate reports of fatalities

In Nicaragua, Vice President Rosario Murillo told TN8 television on Sunday that there had been no initial reports of deaths, but power and communications were cut to some areas. She said that 9,500 people had been evacuated to shelters.

Local news media showed images of trees toppled across roads and local flooding.

Heavy rains and evacuations were also reported in Panama, Honduras and Costa Rica, where some highways were closed due to the downpours.