Updated on
Summary
Flooding and landslides from rain dumped by Tropical Storm Agatha has raised the death toll to 142 in Central America. The storm hit Saturday night, and has pummeled regions of Honduras and El Salvador with heavy rains.Guatemala is the country worst hit. Guatemala was already under a state of emergency since last week after Pacaya Volcano began erupting, covering Guatemala City in ash forcing the closure of the main airport. The state of emergency has been extended. Officials said 118 are confirmed dead, 53 are still missing and shelters in the country are overflowing with 110,000 homeless according to news reports. In addition, the countrys infrastructure has been severely affected. Washed away roads are hampering rescue efforts and waterlines are broken. Thousands more have fled their homes in neighboring Honduras, where the death toll rose to 15 even as meteorologists predicted three more days of rain. Two dams near the capital of Tegucigalpa overflowed into a nearby river, and officials warned people to stay away from swollen waterways. In El Salvador, at least 179 landslides have been reported and 11,000 people were evacuated. The death toll was nine, President Mauricio Funes said. The rising death toll is reminding nervous residents of Hurricane Mitch, which hovered over Central America for days in 1998, causing flooding and mudslides that killed nearly 11,000 people and left more than 8,000 missing and unaccounted for. Rescue efforts in Guatemala have been complicated by a volcanic eruption Thursday near the capital that blanketed parts of the area with ash and closed the country's main airport. Officials are now allowing helicopters and propeller planes to take off, but commercial flights remain grounded.
