A pow­er­ful trop­i­cal storm in Cen­tral Amer­ica has left at least 99 peo­ple dead in floods and mudslides.

Flooded car

A state of emer­gency has been declared in three countries.

The worst-hit coun­try was Guatemala, where offi­cials say at least 82 peo­ple died. Nine were killed in El Sal­vador and at least eight in Honduras.

Storm Agatha swept in from the Pacific Ocean on Sat­ur­day, bring­ing tor­ren­tial rains that added to dis­rup­tion caused by a vol­cano erupt­ing in Guatemala.

The storm is dis­si­pat­ing but more heavy rain is fore­cast for the next few days.
Man car­ries bot­tles through flood in Guatemala A state of emer­gency has been declared in three countries

Res­cue work­ers have been clear­ing debris from roads to reach cut-off communities.

Many areas have not been reached and the num­ber of dead is expected to rise. In Guatemala, where Agatha made land­fall on Sat­ur­day, at least 53 peo­ple were reported missing.

Parts of Guatemala have received their high­est rain­fall in more than 60 years, accord­ing to the country’s Pres­i­dent Alvaro Colom, who said more than 3ft (1m) of rain fell in some areas.

“Many places are cut off but it appears the weather will improve a bit today and we will be able to air­lift sup­plies to those places. The road net­work is badly dam­aged,” Pres­i­dent Colom said at a news con­fer­ence on Sunday.

Nearly 112,000 peo­ple have been evac­u­ated from their homes across Guatemala, offi­cials said.

Guatemala, El Sal­vador and Hon­duras have all declared emer­gen­cies in an attempt to increase imme­di­ate aid and resources.

Agatha — the first named storm of the Pacific hur­ri­cane sea­son — also hit south­ern Mexico.

The storm is dis­si­pat­ing over the moun­tains of west­ern Guatemala — but emer­gency work­ers have warned res­i­dents to expect heavy rain for sev­eral more days.
Devastation

A mud­slide dev­as­tated an entire neigh­bour­hood in the Guatemalan town of San Anto­nio Palopo, 90 miles (150km) south-east of the capital.

“There was a mud­slide that wiped out homes, trees and every­thing in its path,” a wit­ness told local radio.

In Quet­zal­te­nango, 125 miles (200km) west of the cap­i­tal, Guatemala City, a boul­der came loose and crushed a house, killing four peo­ple, includ­ing two children.

In El Sal­vador rains trig­gered at least 140 land­slides in which Pres­i­dent Mauri­cio Funes said nine peo­ple had died.

“Although the storm appears to be dimin­ish­ing in inten­sity, the sit­u­a­tion across the coun­try remains crit­i­cal,” he said.

Offi­cials in Hon­duras, where sev­eral regions have been put under a state of emer­gency, said there had been at least eight storm-related deaths.

The storm has also com­pli­cated efforts to clear up ash from the Pacaya vol­cano in south­ern Guatemala, which began erupt­ing on Thursday.

Guatemala’s main air­port has been closed while work­ers clear the runways.

A state of emer­gency declared because of the vol­canic erup­tion has been extended across the coun­try.
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Source: BBC News