13 dead as Julia drenches Central America with rainfall
Fishermen look at boats partially submerged in water after Hurricane Julia swept through the area in Bluefields, Nicaragua, Sunday, October 9, 2022. Hurricane Julia hit Nicaragua's central Caribbean coast and dumped torrential rains across Central America before reemerging over the Pacific as a tropical storm. (AP Photo/Inti Ocon)
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Now a tropical depression, former Hurricane Julia drenched Guatemala and El Salvador with torrential rains Monday after it reemerged in the Pacific following a pounding of Nicaragua.
Thirteen people were reported dead as a direct or indirect result of the storm.
Guatemala’s disaster prevention agency said five people died after a hillside collapsed on their house in Alta Verapaz province, burying them.
Police said two people died in the eastern El Salvador town of Guatajiagua after heavy rains caused a wall of their home to collapse.
Another man in El Salvador and one in Nicaragua died when trees fell on them.
Rivers overflowed their banks and El Salvador declared a state of emergency and opened 80 storm shelters.
In neighbouring Honduras, a 22-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man died after they were swept away by currents, and two people died when their boat swamped or capsized in northern Honduras.