Julia made landfall on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua on Sunday, after which it headed north along the Pacific coast.
Storm Julia has caused the death of at least 16 people in Central America, officials told Reuters news agency on Monday by. Most of the deaths occurred in El Salvador and Honduras as the weakening storm brought heavy rains across Central America and southern Mexico.
El Salvador authorities said nine people had died. Five of the dead were soldiers of the country. In addition, 830 people were evacuated. Five victims have been confirmed in Honduras and two in Panama.
Julia made landfall on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua on Sunday as a hurricane, after which it headed north along the Pacific coast.
According to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) on Monday, the storm moved northwest at a speed of about 24 kilometers per hour along the coast of El Salvador towards Guatemala. Authorities in Guatemala and El Salvador kept schools closed on Monday.
NHC estimates Julia’s current strongest sustained wind speeds to be around 16 meters per second. The storm is predicted to weaken further towards Monday evening.
Despite the weakening of the storm, the heavy rains brought by Julia can cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides. The NHC said 130 to 250 millimeters of rain is expected in El Salvador and southern Guatemala.
75 to 150 millimeters of rain is forecast for the Tehuantepec Peninsula in Mexico and western Honduras, less for Nicaragua, Honduras in general and northern Guatemala.
Honduran authorities said 9,200 people sought refuge in emergency shelters.
In Nicaragua, Julia knocked out electricity for a million people, and heavy rains and flooding forced more than 13,000 families to evacuate their homes.
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