(San Salvador) The tropical storm Pilarquasi-stationary on Wednesday off the Pacific coast of Central America, continues to generate heavy rains in many countries, flooding crops, leading to the evacuation of hundreds of people and bringing the death toll now to four deaths.
Since Sunday, three people have died in El Salvador, placed in a state of emergency, and one in Honduras, according to the civil protection services of the two countries.
In these two countries as well as in Guatemala, hundreds of inhabitants were evacuated from risk areas and directed to temporary shelters.
Pilar was located about 140 kilometers off the coast of El Salvador on Wednesday morning, generating winds gusting to 95 km/h, and was moving slowly, at 2 km/h.
According to the US-based National Hurricane Center (NHC), Pilar will increase its speed of movement and “will move away from the coasts of Central America during the day and during the night” with a “gradual weakening over the next two days”.
However, “the red alert is maintained”, declared the Salvadoran Minister of the Environment, Fernando Lopez: “We cannot lower our guard […] there is a lot of water accumulated on the ground, there can be rivers overflowing and landslides.”
Many growing areas are also flooded but “we have not quantified the extent of the damage,” said Luis Treminio, president of the Salvadoran Chamber of Small Farmers.
Pilar puts other Central American countries on alert, as the region remembers the devastating passage of Hurricane Mitch, exactly 25 years ago, which left 9,000 dead and caused millions of dollars in losses.
In Honduras, a red alert has also been declared in the coastal departments. In Guatemala, emergency services warn of possible flash floods.
Central America is also anxiously watching a depression on the Atlantic side which could lead to the formation of another tropical storm.
“Regardless of its development, this system has the potential to produce heavy rain over parts of Central America late this week and over the weekend,” warns the NHC.