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Hurricane Julia slammed into Nicaragua’s central Caribbean coast on Sunday after hitting Colombia’s San Andres Island, with a weakened storm expected in the Pacific.
Julia struck early Sunday as a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 km/h), although winds had dropped to 70 mph by late morning as torrential rain swept across Nicaragua ( 110 km/h).
Julia was about 65 miles (105 kilometers) east-northeast of the capital, Managua, and was moving west at 15 mph (24 kph), the National Hurricane Center said.
Life-threatening flash floods and mudslides were possible in Central America and southern Mexico as of Tuesday, with the storm expected to bring up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain in remote areas, the report said.
Colombia’s national disaster agency reported Sunday that Julia blew the roofs of at least five houses and knocked down trees, but no casualties were reported as it exploded on the island of San Andres, east of Nicaragua.
In Nicaragua, authorities evacuated thousands of people from low-lying coastal areas and warned ships of all kinds to seek safe harbor. Local news outlets showed images of trees falling on the road.
Guillermo González, director of Nicaragua’s disaster response system, told state media that high-risk groups had been evacuated from coastal areas by noon Saturday. The military said humanitarian supplies had been delivered to Bluefields and Laguna de Perlas for distribution to 118 temporary shelters.
In Bluefields, however, life appeared to be little changed on Saturday night, with people expressing reluctance to leave their homes.
The storm is expected to appear over the Pacific Ocean and bypass the coasts of El Salvador and Guatemala, an area that has been inundated by weeks of heavy rain.
In Guatemala, storms since early May have killed at least 49 people, including six missing. Guatemalan officials said roads and hundreds of homes were damaged.
El Salvador, where 19 people have died this rainy season, is expected to experience the heaviest rains on Monday and Tuesday, El Salvador’s Environment and Natural Resources Minister Fernando Lopez said. Officials say they have opened 61 shelters that can accommodate more than 3,000 people.
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