Dozens missing – many dead after storm in South and Central America

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After storm “Julia” the devastation is great. At least 59 people have died in Central and South America as a result of storms and floods, according to official figures. The death toll after a landslide in Venezuela has risen to at least 34. More than 60 other people are missing, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said on Monday during a visit to the affected area (local time).

“We haven’t seen a landslide of this magnitude in Venezuela for years.” The South American country is already in a deep political, economic and humanitarian crisis.

Hundreds of homes and businesses damaged in Venezuela
According to official information, the authoritarian Maduro got a glimpse of the situation in Las Tejerías in the state of Aragua. He promised to rebuild everything until “the last shop and the last house”. Hundreds of homes and businesses were destroyed or damaged.

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said heavy rains from Storm Julia, which made landfall as a hurricane in Nicaragua this weekend, caused several rivers to overflow. Images showed mud covering large areas of the site. Las Tejerías has more than 50,000 inhabitants and is located about 50 kilometers southwest of the capital Caracas on an important industrial axis in Venezuela.

Tropical Storm Julia caused landslides and flooding in Central America, killing at least 25 people. Authorities say 13 people were killed in Guatemala and nine in El Salvador on Monday. Five of the nine dead in El Salvador were soldiers who died when a wall collapsed in a landslide. According to media reports, three people have been killed in Honduras.

The storm has subsided, but it will continue to rain, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammatei said. The US Hurricane Center had announced that there was still a risk of life-threatening storm surges and mudslides. Giammattei has declared a state of emergency for 30 days in order to be able to take rapid relief measures for the victims of “Julia”.

The storm formed over the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Colombia on Friday and made landfall as a Category 15 hurricane on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua Sunday evening. Inland, it lost momentum and moved west across Guatemala on Monday with winds of 55 kilometers per hour.

Source: Krone

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