By: Staff Writer
November 22, 2024
Tropical Storm Sara swept through Belize and Guatemala, leaving heavy flooding and one confirmed death in Honduras.
Sara, the last named storm for the season which comes to an end on November 30, weakened to a tropical depression as it crossed Belize at 13 km/h with sustained winds of 55 km/h earlier this week.
Rainfall totals nearing 40 inches were forecasted in northern Honduras from Sara, with concerns of widespread, potentially catastrophic flash flooding and mudslides through the weekend having materialized.
Sara hit land about 105 miles (165 kilometers) west-northwest of the Cabo Gracias a Dios on the Honduras-Nicaragua border on November 15, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. That is near Brus Laguna, a village of about 13,000 inhabitants. There are few other population centers nearby.
One death was reported Saturday morning by Honduras Emergency Management, who also said that there have been at least 90 rescues and over 47,000 people affected by the storm.
Sustained rain fell overnight and continued Saturday in the city of San Pedro Sula, where the storm cut off access to an entire community when a river crossing washed away. Through the weekend, the region could see life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center. Portion of northern Honduras could see rainfall amounts ranging from 15 to 40 inches, the hurricane center said.
Sara was forecast to pass over or very near the tourist destination of Roatan off Honduras’ coast on Sunday. The storm was then expected to turn northwesterly toward Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula.
Rain-soaked Honduran residents were on edge Saturday as the conditions brought back memories of the disastrous November 2020 hurricane season, when two powerful storms passed through the region, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and causing widespread damage.
Standing on a riverbank, Carlos Canelas, 48, acknowledged many residents like his mother had ignored official warnings to evacuate the Flor de Cuba neighborhood of San Pedro Sula. By Saturday morning, the 77-year-old woman was cut off from the rest of the city because the river crossing collapsed and remained home with her 35-year-old special-needs son.
“That is why I did not go to work, but there is little or nothing I can do,” he said. “I can cross the river swimming, but how do I get my mother out?”
Mexican authorities warned it could cause “intense rains” over the resort-studded Yucatan Peninsula.