2023-11-02 01:02:23
View of the port of La Libertad after authorities suppressed fishing activities on the Salvadoran coast following the red alert issued by the Government due to Tropical Storm Pilar, in La Libertad, El Salvador, on October 31, 2023. – United Nations Central America was preparing for Tropical Storm Pilar on Monday, and authorities in El Salvador reported two deaths related to the heavy rain and wind that preceded the storm’s arrival. Pilar, with winds of up to 50 miles (85 kilometers) per hour, is expected to make landfall on Tuesday, threatening the Pacific coast areas of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and all of El Salvador, according to the National Weather Service. United States Hurricanes. Center (CNH). (Photo by Marvin RECINOS / AFP)
Tropical Storm Pilar moves away from Central America this Wednesday after leaving four dead, hundreds of evacuees and flooding in extensive crop areas in the region.
Pushed by a cold front, Pilar was beginning to turn back to the Pacific and was about 225 kilometers from the Salvadoran coast, moving at 15 km per hour, causing winds of 95 km per hour.
“Movement toward the southwest is expected tonight or early Thursday and that motion should continue through Saturday,” the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest report.
#ClimaSV | The passage of tropical storm Pilar in El Salvador has left several effects such as landslides, fallen trees, floods, damaged streets, among others. pic.twitter.com/FzswyyZb7b
— El Metropolitano (@ElMetroDigital) November 1, 2023
“The center of Pilar will continue to move away from the coasts of Central America this afternoon and tonight,” but “the waves generated by Pilar are expected to continue affecting the Pacific coast of Central America over the next few days,” the NHC warned.
Since Sunday, Pilar caused three deaths in El Salvador and one in Honduras, according to Civil Protection services in both countries.
The phenomenon that has Central America on alert occurs on the 25th anniversary of Hurricane Mitch, which left some 9,000 dead and millions of losses to the economies of the countries in the region.
In Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, hundreds of people coming from high-risk areas or hit by overflowing rivers were evacuated and transferred to shelters.
On Wednesday afternoon, flooded rural areas in Salvadoran territory were exposed under the sun, such as the flood caused by the overflowing of the San Antonio River, which divides the departments of La Paz and San Vicente.
In the community of Los Ángeles, in the municipality of Zacatecoluca, about 60 km southeast of San Salvador, AFP journalists observed extensive grasslands and flooded sugarcane and corn crops.
“Even the poultry died” from the water, a farmer told AFP.
– Alert continues –
“The red alert remains,” announced the Salvadoran Minister of the Environment, Fernando López.
“We cannot let our guard down, because there may be risks, there is a lot of moisture accumulated in the ground, there may be gradual overflows of rivers,” he added.
Due to bad weather, the professional soccer date scheduled for this Wednesday and Thursday was suspended in El Salvador.
Given the persistent rains in Honduras, the head of early emergencies of the Permanent Commission of Contingencies (Copeco), José Reyes, announced that a “red alert” was declared in the departments of Choluteca and Valle, in the south of the country and on the coast. . from Pacific.
The rest of the Honduran territory remains divided into yellow and green alert.
In Guatemala, the Meteorological Service warned that the rains will begin this Wednesday, so it asked the population to “take the necessary precautions.”
The attempted rainfall and strong winds have caused damage to basic grain crops, especially in coastal regions.
“The rain has caused damage, but we have not quantified the extent affected,” the president of the Salvadoran Chamber of Small Agricultural Producers, Luis Treminio, told AFP.
The flooded corn, bean and sugar cane crops are in the Puerto Parada area, in the Salvadoran department of Usulután (southeast) and in the El Bálsamo mountain range, in the central department of La Libertad.
“The beans are the ones that are taking the most risk because they are fully ripening,” said the coordinator of the Rural and Indigenous Agricultural Roundtable, Mateo Rendón.
Honduras reported damage in areas near the Gulf of Fonseca.
– Monitoring in the Caribbean –
The NHC and the Central American meteorological services monitor the eventual formation of a new tropical cycle in the Caribbean.
It is expected that this phenomenon, which is located in the central Caribbean, south of the island of Hispaniola, will move southwest in the coming days, approaching Central America.
“Environmental conditions could become slightly more conducive to development in a day or two, and a tropical depression could form as the system moves over the southwestern Caribbean Sea,” the NHC said.
“Regardless of development, this system has the potential to produce heavy rain over parts of Central America late this week and into the weekend,” he added.
The Nicaraguan Naval Force prohibited sailings for fishing and tourist vessels destined for the open sea or communities on the Caribbean coast “until further notice.”
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© Agence France-Presse
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