Storm Eta has unleashed torrential rains, catastrophic landslides and floods across Central America, killing dozens of people, displacing more than 300,000 people and turning roads into torrential downpours. At least 50 people have died in Guatemala, including 25 in a landslide in the city of Queja, the country’s president, Alejandro Giammattei, said. He told local radio that at least 1.5 million hectares of land had been flooded and 48 hours of rain was expected.
Footage posted on social media showed canoes driving through flooded streets, with dozens of people sitting on rooftops pleading for rescue. Authorities reported that nearly 100 homes in Guatemala had been damaged by floods and landslides, according to local media.
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said that the situation was “shocking, serious and needs to be resolved professionally and quickly,” citing reports of people stuck on rooftops of flooded homes. Damage and destruction spread quickly, Hernandez said, and speedboats and helicopters were sent to rescue people from inaccessible areas.
Eta hit Nicaragua as the strongest storm to hit Central America this year, weakening the interior of neighboring Honduras. Authorities confirmed at least five deaths Thursday, three in Nicaragua and two in Honduras, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
In southern Costa Rica, a landslide at a house killed two men and a woman in their 20s and two children, authorities said. Media in Nicaragua also reported that two miners had died in a mudslide, and in Honduras, a man and woman died in an avalanche in the town of San Pedro Sula, near the border with the Nicaraguan capital, Tegucigalpa. A landslide at a residential building in southern Costa Rica and Honduras killed at least one person and three others on Thursday, authorities said, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A temporary shelter is being built on San Pedro Sula island where 60 fishermen missing since Tuesday are seeking shelter after being brought back to the islands by a boat carrying food and fuel, said community leader Robin Morales. Morales called the escape a “miracle” and said a man believed to have died of a heart attack had also returned. Another friend is still alive, “thank God,” said Morales, who is a member of the La Paz municipal council.
The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted that Tropical Storm Eta was moving west to northwest at about 10 kilometers per hour on Wednesday morning. High winds and heavy rains damaged homes, roads and bridges, forcing thousands to flee to temporary shelters. It also said that the storm is expected to return to the ocean as a tropical storm in the coming days and gain some momentum before reaching Cuba and South Florida.
