Man seen in commercial area of Sunzal Beach affected by tropical storm Amanda (AFP)
San Salvador, El Salvador:
The death toll of tropical storm Amanda in Central America has risen to 26 even as a new storm is forming in the Gulf of Mexico, reports on Tuesday reported.
El Salvador and neighboring Guatemala and Honduras were hit by torrential rain and strong winds after Amanda landed in the Pacific on Sunday, causing floods and power outages.
The death toll in El Salvador, which suffered the brunt of the storm, has increased from 16 to 20, the environment ministry announced on Tuesday.
One of the seven missing, however, was found alive, said Carolina Recinos, a senior official in San Salvador, who also said that 2,000 homes had been “completely destroyed”.
Nearly 8,000 people were evacuated from high-risk areas and transferred to shelters.
While tropical storm Cristobal is expected to result in further torrential rain on already waterlogged soils, the environment ministry has warned of “a high probability of many landslides and falling rocks”.
Four people died in Honduras after being swept away by the current.
The rains have caused flooding and landslides in several parts of the country, officials said.
Two people were also killed and two others injured in Guatemala, where authorities reported that 500 homes were damaged.
