TEGUSIGALPA (Reuters) – Slow-moving tropical depression Sara unleashed heavy rains in Honduras this weekend, killing at least one person while forcing thousands to flee their homes and causing flooding. A bridge and a highway were destroyed, officials said Sunday.
Airports in the capital Tegucigalpa and industrial hub San Pedro Sula were closed, according to civil aviation officials.
Sarah headed northwest where she made landfall on Sunday on neighboring Belize, popular with tourists for its ancient ruins, beach resorts and coral reefs. It also carries the risk of major floods and flooded rivers.
According to the latest report from the US National Hurricane Center, the storm’s center is currently located about 55 miles (88 km) west of Belize City, the small commercial center of the Caribbean. The government urged locals to hold Sunday religious services remotely while announcing that all schools would be suspended on Monday as a precaution.
The NHC on Sunday downgraded the storm from a tropical storm to a tropical depression, and said it expected it to weaken as it moved further inland over Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
The Miami-based forecaster estimated Sara’s maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 km/h), and a northwesterly motion of just 8 mph (13 km/h). .
In a report, Honduran risk management officials added that more than 71,000 people have been affected by the storm, with about 4,000 displaced from their homes and moved to shelters.
At least 251 communities were cut off from communication as more rain continued to lash most parts of the country, especially in the eastern and southern regions, on Sunday.
In a virtual press conference, Belize Chief Meteorologist Ronald Gordon noted that about 12 inches (30 cm) of rain hit the central coastal town of Dangriga, south of Belize City, while stressing the risk of localized flooding.
