Perilous
Times and Climate Change
Storms kill 29 in Central America
October 14, 2011 - 10:29AM
AFP
Two storm systems have left 29 people dead and forced tens of
thousands from their homes as heavy rains battered Central America
and Mexico's Pacific coast.
Central America alone recorded 24 deaths and nearly 60,000 people
were made homeless by the storms, local authorities and emergency
services said on Thursday.
Another five people were killed in Mexico, where Hurricane Jova's
torrential rains forced at least 4000 people to leave their homes.
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The storms triggered heavy flooding, blocked roads, and caused
electricity outages and mudslides. Many homes were destroyed.
In hard-hit Guatemala, where 15 people died and more than 52,000
were forced from their homes, torrential rains destroyed and
carried away bridges.
Four people remained missing, Vice President Rafael Espada said,
urging residents to avoid unnecessary travel over the next 48
hours, with more rain expected.
Heavy rains caused landslides on several major highways in the
Central American country, which saw 274 people die from flooding
and landslides last year during the heaviest rainfall of the past
60 years.
Rescuers recovered a total of nine bodies in El Salvador and
Nicaragua - six in Nicaragua and three in El Salvador - while in
Honduras and Costa Rica only property damage was reported.
In Mexico, Jova roared ashore as a strong category two hurricane
on Tuesday before weakening to a tropical storm.
Officials recovered the body of a man swept away by a river in
Jalisco state, which was hit hard by the storm. Authorities said a
21-year-old woman and her five-year old daughter were killed in a
landslide in the small community of Melaque, and two others died
in Tomatlan.
Jova battered Mexico just as thousands of athletes began arriving
for the Pan American Games, which begin on Friday in Guadalajara,
the Jalisco state capital more than 100 kilometres from the coast.
Authorities have insisted that the games, one of the premier
events on the global sports calendar, would not be affected though
some venues required last-minute repairs.
The remnants of the hurricane were breaking up over the northwest
state of Nayarit, Mexican forecasters said on Thursday.