Guatemala City, Oct. 11 (BNA): Former Hurricane Julia dissipated, but still dumped heavy rain in Guatemala and El Salvador on Monday after it re-emerged in the Pacific Ocean after bombing Nicaragua.
The Associated Press reported that at least 28 people died as a direct or indirect result of the storm.
The Guatemalan Disaster Prevention Agency said five people died after a hill collapsed in their home in Alta Verapaz province, burying them. And in Huehuetenango province, near Mexico, nine people died, including a soldier who was killed while carrying out rescue work.
El Salvador authorities said five soldiers of the Salvadoran army died after a wall collapsed in a house they had taken refuge in in the town of Comasagua, where hundreds of police and soldiers are carrying out raids against gangs. Another soldier was wounded.
Two people were killed in the town of Guatjiagua, eastern El Salvador, after torrential rains caused the wall of their house to collapse. Another man died in El Salvador when he was swept away by an electric current, and another died when a tree fell on him.
In neighboring Honduras, a 22-year-old woman died when she was swept away by currents, and three people died when their boat sank or capsized in northern Honduras. A man was killed in Nicaragua by a falling tree.
Julia hit the central Caribbean coast of Nicaragua early Sunday as a hurricane with a maximum speed of 85 mph (140 km/h) and escaped passing over the country’s mountainous terrain, entering the Pacific late in the day as a tropical storm.
By Monday, Julia had moved inland over Guatemala and had winds down to 30 mph (45 km/h).
The US National Hurricane Center said Julia was centered 80 miles (125 kilometers) west and northwest of Guatemala City, moving west-northwest at 15 mph (24 kph).
The center said flooding and mudslides were possible across Central America and southern Mexico through Tuesday, and the storm was expected to bring up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rain in isolated areas.
In Guatemala, two people are missing and two people have been hospitalized, and about 1,300 people have had to leave their homes due to flooding and rising waters.
Julia was expected to dissipate later on Monday as she passed along the Guatemalan coast.
The Colombian National Disaster Agency reported on Sunday that Julia blew up the roofs of several houses and knocked on trees as she passed the island of San Andres in eastern Nicaragua. There were no immediate reports of fatalities
In Nicaragua, Vice President Rosario Murillo told TN8 that 9,500 people had been evacuated to shelters.
Heavy rain and evacuations were also reported in Panama, Honduras and Costa Rica, where some highways were closed due to the downpour.
EAE