Evacuations of coastal regions of Honduras are underway as a second hurricane in as many weeks is predicted to strike Central America. Forecasters states Tropical Storm Iota is anticipated to intensify to a “major hurricane” when it hits Honduras and Nicaragua on Sunday. They warn of 120mph (193km/h) winds, torrential rain, and increasing sea levels.
The region is still staggering from the impacts of Hurricane Eta which killed at least 200 people earlier this month.
The worst-hit area was Guatemala’s central Alta Verapaz region, where mudslides concealed dozens of homes in the village of Quejá, with some 100 people feared dead. At least 50 deaths were declared in the country. The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) cautioned that “flooding and mudslides in Nicaragua and Honduras could be worsened by Hurricane Eta’s recent effects there”.Parts of Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, El Salvador, and Colombia have been alerted to ready for “life-threatening flash flooding and river flooding” while coastal regions of Hispaniola and Jamaica may also see “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions”.
The Honduran authorities requested the evacuation of people in the area of San Pedro Sula, the country’s second city and industrial capital.”Our red alert orders mandatory evacuations,” Julissa Mercado of Honduras’ Emergency Response Agency told. Meanwhile, Guatemala’s disaster officials have demanded residents in parts of the north to willingly evacuate to refugees.”Our ground is already inundated, so it’s to be expected that we have more farming and infrastructure damage,” President Alejandro Giammattei said.
Iota will be the 30th storm this year to wreak devastation across the Central American, the Caribbean, and south-eastern US – a history for the region’s hurricane season. President Giammattei blamed the increasing frequency and intensity of hurricanes on climate change and blamed industrialized nations for being responsible.
“Central America is one of the regions where climate change is felt the most,” he told reporters after assembling his Honduran counterpart, Juan Orlando Hernández, in Guatemala City. The region is hit by “catastrophic floods, severe droughts, and the greatest poverty” but receives “the least help on behalf of these industrialized nations,” he said.
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