Now a tropical depression, former Hurricane Julia drenched Guatemala and El Salvador with torrential rains Monday after it re-emerged in the Pacific following a pounding of Nicaragua. Eight people were reported dead as a direct or indirect result of the storm.
Police said two people died in the eastern El Salvador town of Guatajiagua after heavy rains caused a wall of their home to collapse. Another man in El Salvador and one in Nicaragua died when trees fell on them.
Rivers overflowed their banks and El Salvador declared a state of emergency and opened 80 storm shelters.
In neighbouring Honduras, a 22-year-old women died after she was swept away by a river and three people died when their boat swamped or capsized in northern Honduras.
In Guatemala, two people were listed as missing and two were hospitalized, and about 1,300 people had to leave their homes because of flooding and rising streams.
Julia hit Nicaragua Sunday as a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 kph, though its winds had dipped to tropical storm force of 65 kph by Sunday night as it moved past the Central American country.
However, life-threatening flash floods and mudslides were forecast to be possible across Central America and southern Mexico through Tuesday, with the storm expected to bring as much as 38 cm of rain in isolated areas.
Colombia’s national disaster agency reported Sunday that Julia blew the roofs off several houses and knocked over trees as it blasted past San Andres Island east of Nicaragua. There were no immediate reports of fatalities
In Nicaragua, Vice President Rosario Murillo told TN8 television that there had been no reports of deaths so far, but power and communications were cut to some areas. She said that 9,500 people had been evacuated to shelters.
Local news media showed images of trees toppled across roads and local flooding.
Heavy rains and evacuations were also reported in Panama, Honduras, and Costa Rica, where some highways were closed due to the downpours.
The storm was expected to dissipate by Monday night.