Hurricane Julia caused at least 26 deaths and four missing in Central America, according to official reports. The storm, which gradually subsided as it reached Nicaragua on Sunday and completely dissipated over Guatemala, left a trail of destruction and flooding.
According to the American Hurricane Monitoring Center (CNH), the rains could still cause damage in these countries and in southern Mexico; relate Le Figaro.
Five soldiers killed in El Salvador
Ten people died in El Salvador. Five soldiers who were participating in the rescue operations lost their lives about thirty kilometers southwest of the capital San Salvador. A wall against which they had sheltered from the elements collapsed, said Salvadoran Minister of Justice and Security Gustavo Villatoro.
“At least two people died buried”, including the fall of a wall in the city of Guatajiagua, local police added; while two other climate-related deaths were recorded in the southwest of the country.
Honduras and Guatemala also affected
In Honduras, the mayor of Brus Laguna (a city located in the western part of the country), indicated that two people had died by drowning after their canoe overturned, carried away by the swollen waves of Julia’s rains. Another person went missing from the accident.
In Guatemala 14 people lost their lives. In the north of the country, five members of the same family were buried in the rubble of their home in an indigenous village where a landslide occurred, according to the civil protection services (Conred). According to this source, two men also went missing after being run over by a river.
Julia is the second hurricane of the season to hit Central America after Bonnie in July, along the Nicaragua-Costa Rica border. By the end of 2020, Hurricanes Eta and Iota had killed at least 200 people and as many were missing, and damages estimated at several million dollars.
