(Belize City) The Storm Lisanow a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 120 km / h, approached Wednesday afternoon less than a hundred kilometers from the coast of Belize, putting the north of America on alert central.
Posted at 6:01 p.m.
Lisa advances at a speed of 24 km / h and should hit Belize overnight from Wednesday to Thursday.
The hurricane threatens northern Central America three weeks after Hurricane Julia swept through the region causing around 100 casualties, half of them drowned in Honduras, and the others buried by landslides in Guatemala and in El Salvador.
Honduras is on red alert for its islands in the path of the hurricane, and on yellow alert for four departments in the north of the country.
The Honduran Civil Protection Services provides that Lisa should begin to weaken as you approach the coast.
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Lisathen downgraded to the rank of tropical storm, is expected to enter Guatemala on Thursday from the north of the country.
Roatan Mayor Ronnie Mcnab (Islas de Bahia, Honduras) declared a “state of emergency” and asked managers of luxury hotels on the islands “to inform their customers about the situation” and ask them to stay confined in their establishments for at least 36 hours. He also ordered the closure of businesses, with the exception of gas stations and pharmacies, as well as schools, which must be equipped to be able to serve as refuges.
The entire coast of Belize is also on ‘red’ alert and schools have been closed across the country while shelters are being set up.
“It’s very dangerous for us” because in Belize “it floods quickly, even with moderate rain,” Jazmin Ayusola, a 21-year-old secretary, told an AFP special envoy in Belize. .
Guatemala is also expecting heavy rains caused by Lisa in the north and center, Rodolfo Garcia, spokesperson for the Coordination for Disaster Reduction (Conred), told the press.
Lisathen downgraded to the rank of tropical storm, should enter Guatemala on Thursday from the north of the country, before gradually losing strength on its way towards Mexico.
El Salvador, which should be relatively spared, has however put more than twenty municipalities on alert where risks of flooding or landslides have been identified.