Skip links

Skip to Content
play

Live

Navigation menu

  • News
    • Middle East
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • US & Canada
    • Latin America
    • Europe
    • Asia Pacific
  • Ukraine war
  • Features
  • Economy
  • Opinion
  • Video
    • Coronavirus
    • Climate Crisis
    • Investigations
    • Interactives
    • In Pictures
    • Science & Technology
    • Sports
    • Podcasts
play

Live

In Pictures

Gallery|Climate

Dozens dead as storm Julia dumps heavy rains in Central America

Tropical Storm Julia re-emerged in the Pacific following a pounding of Nicaragua, drenching Guatemala and El Salvador.

Tropical storm Julia
Relief corps clears the access road to the place where five soldiers were killed by a landslide following the passage of Tropical Storm Julia, in Comasagua, El Salvador. [Marvin Recinos/AFP]
Published On 11 Oct 202211 Oct 2022
facebooktwitterwhatsapp

At least 28 people have died after Hurricane Julia caused rains and landslides in several Latin American countries, including Guatemala and El Salvador.

Guatemala’s disaster prevention agency said five people died after a hillside collapsed on their house in Alta Verapaz province, burying them. And in Huehuetenango province, near Mexico, nine people died, including a soldier involved in rescue work.

Authorities in El Salvador said five Salvadoran army soldiers died after a wall collapsed at a house where they sought refuge in the town of Comasagua, where hundreds of police and soldiers have been conducting anti-gang raids. Another soldier was injured.

Two other 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 died when he was swept away by a current, and another died when a tree fell on him.

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 died when she was swept away by currents, and three people died when their boat swamped or capsized in northern Honduras. A man in Nicaragua was killed by a falling tree.

Julia hit Nicaragua’s central Caribbean coast early on Sunday as a hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 135kmph (85mph) and survived the passage over the country’s mountainous terrain, entering the Pacific late in the day as a tropical storm.

By Monday, Julia had moved inland over Guatemala and its wind speed was down to 50kmph (30mph).

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Julia was centred about 130km (80 miles) west-northwest of Guatemala City, and was moving west-northwest at 24kmph (15mph).

NHC said floods and mudslides were possible across Central America and southern Mexico through Tuesday, with the storm expected to bring as much as 380mm (15 inches) of rain in isolated areas.

Tropical storm Julia
Residents clean a road after a mudslide in San Salvador, El Salvador. [Jose Cabezas/Reuters]
Advertisement
Tropical storm Julia
A rescue worker looks at a car damaged in a landslide in Antiguo Cuscatlan, El Salvador. [Jose Cabezas/Reuters]
Tropical storm Julia
Residents clear debris and cut tree branches outside a damaged house after Hurricane Julia hit the town of La Cruz, Nicaragua. [Maynor Valenzuela/Reuters]
Tropical storm Julia
A man stands outside his house surrounded by floodwaters in Bluefields, Nicaragua. [Inti Ocon/AP Photo]
Tropical storm Julia
People affected by floods after the passage of Tropical Storm Julia, are evacuated by boat in the municipality of Choloma, department of Cortes, Honduras. [Wendell Escoto/AFP]
Tropical storm Julia
Volunteer firefighters evacuate people trapped in a landslide at Queja village in San Cristobal Verapaz, Guatemala. [Handout via AFP]
Advertisement
Tropical storm Julia
Fallen trees after the passage of Tropical Storm Julia in San Andres Island, Colombia. [Michael Arevalo/AFP]


    • About Us
    • Code of Ethics
    • Terms and Conditions
    • EU/EEA Regulatory Notice
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Cookie Preferences
    • Sitemap
    • Community Guidelines
    • Work for us
    • HR Quality
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with us
    • Apps
    • Channel Finder
    • TV Schedule
    • Podcasts
    • Submit a Tip
    • Al Jazeera Arabic
    • Al Jazeera English
    • Al Jazeera Investigative Unit
    • Al Jazeera Mubasher
    • Al Jazeera Documentary
    • Al Jazeera Balkans
    • AJ+
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Studies
    • Al Jazeera Media Institute
    • Learn Arabic
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights
    • Al Jazeera Forum
    • Al Jazeera Hotel Partners

Follow Al Jazeera English:

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • youtube
  • instagram-colored-outline
  • rss
Al Jazeera Media Network logo
© 2023 Al Jazeera Media Network