(Guatemala) At least 15 people died and seven were injured in a dozen mudslides caused by the heavy rains that have fallen since the beginning of May in Guatemala, where more than 500,000 people are affected by these bad weather, said Monday the civil protection.
Posted at 7:35 p.m.
Among the 15 people who died are a woman and her six children, as well as three minor brothers, from two indigenous villages, said the Coordination for the Reduction of Natural Disasters (CONRED).
Rains accompanied by strong winds caused landslides, floods, infrastructure collapses and destruction in most of this Central American country.
CONRED said 930 homes were damaged as well as eight schools, more than 80 roads and seven bridges, three of which were completely destroyed.
The regions most affected are those where there are mainly indigenous populations, who are most vulnerable to natural disasters. Nearly 60% of Guatemala’s 17 million people live in poverty.
In 2021, the rains caused the death of 35 people and left three missing, 17 injured and some 1.5 million people affected. Nearly 12,000 people had to be evacuated.
The rainy season, which runs from May to November, kills hundreds of people every year in Central America, one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change.