At least 50 people died in three mudslides in Guatemala caused by a landslide in the department of Alta Verapaz and also in Huehuetenango, in the north of the territory, after the rains left by Eta, now degraded to a tropical depression, according to the Guatemalan president, Alejandro Giammattei.
In total,
at least 70 people have died in Central America
this week due to incessant rains.
The Alta Verapaz avalanche took place in the Quejá hamlet, in the San Cristóbal Verapaz municipality,
some 126 miles (203 kilometers) from Guatemala City
, as initially detailed by the authorities prior to the Giammattei update.
"We have to regret that this morning we had four dead and now we are above 50 dead," the president told journalists when he arrived at the command center of the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred), installed this day in the municipality of Puerto Barrios, Izabal, more than 180 miles (290 kilometers) northeast of the capital.
[How and when to prepare for a hurricane or tropical storm]
"Among the avalanches that are occurring in the Huehuetenango area (west of the country) and in the San Cristóbal Verapaz area (in the Alta Verapaz department), where we are trying to get there on foot, because we could not reach the Quejá village, an estimated 25 underground houses, which is half of the village, due to the avalanche and it is estimated no less than 50 people there inside the houses ", emphasized the governor.
He added that even the authorities and the civil protection entity have been able to establish "how many houses there are" and said that they are "mobilizing all the support we have."
At least 11 people
died in Honduras and two in Nicaragua
, countries that were hit first by the full force of Eta, when it made landfall as a category 4 hurricane on the Caribbean coast of the latter country.
The Panamanian authorities reported that eight people were missing.
The state Permanent Contingency Commission (Copeco) of Honduras warned this Thursday of possible "catastrophic" overflows of the Ulúa and Chamelecón rivers, in the north, and Choluteca, in the south.
The Honduran Customs Administration announced on Thursday the temporary closure of the La Mesa customs office, located in the municipality of La Lima, Cortés department, in the north of the country, due to the floods that affect the area.
A pregnant woman is carried across a flooded area in Planeta, Honduras, after the passage of Storm Eta;
on November 5, 2020.AP
Eta approached the Nicaraguan coast Tuesday morning with sustained winds of 140 miles per hour (225 kilometers per hour), bringing torrential rains that have affected much of Central America.
Eta, degraded to a tropical depression, registers sustained winds of 30 miles per hour (45 kilometers per hour), but what has made it a truly destructive phenomenon has been the accumulation of rainfall caused by its slow movement.
Since landing, it has traveled an average of seven miles per hour, and its current speed is just nine miles per hour (15 kilometers per hour).
Eta is located about 85 miles (140 kilometers) from La Ceiba, Honduras,
and is expected to reach the Caribbean Sea again on Friday afternoon, before continuing its course towards Cuba and South Florida on Saturday and Sunday. , respectively.
At least 11 deaths and much destruction after the passage of Hurricane Eta through Honduras
Nov. 6, 202000: 25
In could cause
accumulations of 15 to 25 inches of rain and up to 40 inches (one liter) in some areas of Honduras
.
In the rest of Central America, rainfall has ranged between five and 10 inches, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
This has caused flash floods and dangerous landslides that have resulted in dozens of deaths.
Eta left a trail of destruction in northern Nicaragua, beginning with the coastal city of Bilwi.
[The Eta storm punishes Central America before traveling to Cuba and Florida]
There, civil defense brigades worked Wednesday to clear the streets of downed trees, uprooted utility poles and blown up roofs.
Some neighborhoods were completely flooded
.
The country's vice president and first lady, Rosario Murillo, said that more than 51,000 families were without electricity in the affected areas.
Residents walk along a road with debris washed away by a river during flooding caused by rains from Storm Eta, in Toyos, Honduras, on November 4, 2020.REUTERS
In the north of Nicaragua is the largest coffee growing area in the country, a critical export.
Lila Sevilla, president of the National Coffee Growers Alliance, said they were concerned that the landslides could affect the plants and block the roads needed to bring the crops to market.
"It is still early to assess the impact of the rains, but we can foresee damage to the road network in northern municipalities," explained Sevilla.
The harvest has not started yet, but prolonged rains could cause the coffee to ripen very quickly and affect its quality, he added.
With information from EFE and The Associated Press
.