At least 22 people have died in a landslide in Venezuela after heavy rainfall. At least 52 missing persons are being sought, the South American country’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, told reporters at the accident site, the city of Las Tejerías, on Sunday (local time). Hurricane “Julia” created a so-called trough — a low-pressure area — on Saturday and caused five smaller rivers to overflow.
“Julia” formed over the Caribbean Sea off Colombia Friday and made landfall Sunday night (local time) as a lowest Category 1 of 5 hurricane on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast. On Sunday, there were floods in several Central American countries. Julia moved west across Nicaragua, weakened and was downgraded to a tropical storm. The storm is expected to reach Nicaragua’s Pacific coast in the evening, the NHC said. This warned that life-threatening flash flooding and landslides could be possible across Central America and southern Mexico by Tuesday. “Julia” is expected to continue moving along or near the Pacific coasts of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala overnight and Monday.
Children died in Las Tejerías from the mud masses
Las Tejerías has about 50,000 inhabitants and is located about 50 kilometers southwest of the Venezuelan capital Caracas and about 70 kilometers south of the Caribbean coast. Images showed mud covering much of the site, with logs lying on the ground among the rubble. Children were among the dead, Rodríguez said, as seen on television. The tragedy is a consequence of the climate crisis. President Nicolás Maduro wrote on Twitter that he had declared three days of national mourning.
A state of emergency has been declared across the country in El Salvador and schools there, as in Honduras, are said to remain closed on Monday. In Honduras, several airports are closed to commercial flights. According to civil defense officials in Nicaragua, more than 800 homes in the Central American country were flooded and about 13,000 people had been evacuated. On the Colombian island of San Andrés, where “Julia” had passed close to Nicaragua, the damage was minor thanks to good preparations, according to a tweet from the head of civil defense, Javier Pava, with 101 houses damaged and two destroyed.
20 Tote in Honduras and El Salvador
Just over two weeks earlier, days of rain in Central America had caused landslides and flooding that killed at least 20 people in Honduras and El Salvador. In 2020, the devastating hurricanes “Eta” and “Iota” hit the region of about 50 million inhabitants. At least 250 people died and parts of Central America were flooded for weeks.
The Atlantic hurricane season lasts from June to November. In recent weeks, two powerful hurricanes, Fiona and Ian, have wreaked havoc in parts of the Caribbean and North America. Tropical cyclones form over warm ocean waters. The number of severe storms will not increase due to climate change, but the probability will.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
