Hurricane Julia across Central America has left at least 28 people dead, 14 of them in Guatemala, four in Honduras, nine in El Salvador, and thousands of casualties across the region, says Telesur.
After the classification was downgraded in the past few hours to a tropical depression, the atmospheric phenomenon has left a trail of devastation in many Central American countries since it made landfall in Nicaragua last Sunday.
In the Guatemalan town of Panzos Alta Verapaz, in the north-central part of the country, five people died when they were buried in a landslide after cliffs separated from their homes.
Nine people have died in Huehuetenango province, including a soldier who died while crossing the river during rescue efforts.
During her time in Guatemala, President Alejandro Giamatti announced that Julia had left 167,000 homes with power problems and a hydroelectric power plant damaged, adding that Mexico had offered to supply power to some areas.
Alejandro Giamatti declared a state of disaster on Monday due to the damage and deaths caused by the tropical depression.
According to the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (CONRD), so far at least seven people have been reported injured and three others missing after heavy rains in the past few hours.
In addition, more than 166,000 people were affected in Guatemala, while 486 were affected and 1,307 people had to be evacuated.
#NR | October 10, 2022.
✔️ The government declares a state of public disaster due to the effects of the tropical cyclone #julia
✔️ Head Tweet embed Highlights those affected by the rain #Together let’s move forward pic.twitter.com/bcNmHCWmuv
– Government of Guatemala (GuatemalaGob) October 11 2022
In El Salvador, Julia made landfall on Sunday with torrential rain and sustained winds of 70 kilometers per hour, causing rivers to overflow, trees toppling on highways and leaving city streets inundated.
In view of the damage and floods caused by the impact of Julia, last Saturday the country’s National Assembly decreed a 15-day national emergency and made it possible for civil protection to carry out mandatory evacuations of the vulnerable population.
In Honduras, the Director of Preparedness and Response to the Standing Emergency Committee (Copico) announced that Hurricane Julia left four deaths and at least 9,200 refugees across the country.
While passing through Nicaragua, Julia left more than a million people without electricity and internet and caused material damage, according to the country’s vice president, Rosario Murillo.
Murillo emphasized that the damage was material only and no deaths were reported from Julia’s passage through the territory of Nicaragua, while the director of the disaster system stated that more than 13,000 families had been evacuated and more than 800 homes were seriously damaged.
The government maintains a state of red alert and on Monday ordered the suspension of classes in all public and private schools, colleges and universities. He also asked the residents to take the necessary precautions due to the floods caused by the rains and the flooding of at least 78 rivers in different parts of the country.
Given the complex situation in these regions, countries like China have expressed their willingness to assist in their recovery. This was voiced by Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, who said that Beijing would provide support within its means, regretted the catastrophic situation in those countries and offered condolences to the families of the dead.
He also expressed his confidence that the efforts of the governments and peoples of these countries will allow them to overcome adversity soon.
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