ROATAN, Honduras – Parts of Central America are facing a third day of torrential rains and catastrophic flash flooding Saturday as the now-deadly Tropical Storm Sara continues to crawl along the northern Honduran coastline.
With atmospheric steering currents in near total collapse, Sara has been essentially adrift while streaming a constant river of tropical moisture into the vulnerable countrysides. The NHC says the center of the storm moved only 10 miles over a 15-hour period between midday Friday and Saturday morning.
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The slow moving storm combined with the steep terrain of the region is a destructive combination that has led to feet of rain falling in short periods of time.
The country’s emergency management agency said one person drowned in Yoro, and over 130 homes and residences have been damaged or destroyed across the nation. More than 47,000 people have suffered some impacts from Sara with 90 rescues so far, government agencies said.
Over 31 inches of rain have fallen in La Ceiba since Thursday, with the swollen Cangrajal River wiping away part of the Saopin bridge.
People stand on the destroyed Saopin bridge due to the flooding of the Cangrajal river after the passage of tropical storm Sara in La Ceiba, Honduras, on November 15, 2024. (Photo by ESAU OCAMPO/AFP via Getty Images)
Sara officially briefly made one landfall Thursday evening, but its center of circulation is forecast to slowly track along the coastline and briefly back out into the Gulf of Honduras on Saturday and then into Belize on Sunday.
This video by Honduras’s national police shows road conditions as officers patrolled the town:
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Travel around the region has also been impacted. Airports in Roatan and La Ceiba have suspended all operations until further notice, according to government officials. Both American Airlines and United Airlines offered to waive some fees associated with changing flights.
Cruise lines are also telling passengers with upcoming itineraries in the area to keep tabs on the forecast.
“Carnival Cruise Line’s Fleet Operations Center in Miami is actively monitoring the disturbance in the Caribbean,” a spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Lines said in an email to FOX Weather. “Guests are encouraged to opt-in to text alerts when checking in for upcoming cruises and to monitor emails.”
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Sara is located along the Honduran coast and has maximum sustained winds of around 50 mph.
The storm’s forward movement is rather slow and at times has been stationary, causing heavy rainfall to remain over the region.
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On the forecast track, the center of Sara will continue to move close to the northern coast of Honduras through early Saturday, then slowly drift across the Gulf of Honduras and approach the coast of Belize early Sunday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
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Over northern Honduras, rainfall totals of 15-25 inches, with locally higher amounts of 35 inches, are expected.
“This rainfall will lead to widespread areas of life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flash flooding and mudslides, especially along and near the Sierra La Esperanza,” the NHC warned Friday.
Other parts of Honduras, as well as Belize, El Salvador, eastern Guatemala and western Nicaragua, could see 5-10 inches of rain, with locally higher amounts of 15 inches.
Sara is expected to eventually dissipate as it moves over the Yucatan Peninsula, but its remnants are forecast to join forces with a cold front dropping into the Gulf Coast to bring heavy rains to the Interstate 10 corridor and Florida.
Original article source: Tropical Storm Sara slams Central America with deadly catastrophic flooding, mudslides
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Publish date : 2024-11-16 04:14:00
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