'Pilar' causes havoc in Central America; there are two dead in El Salvador

Central America was preparing to suffer the ravages caused by the tropical storm Pillarwhich advances slowly from the Pacific Ocean and leaves two dead and one missing in El Salvador.

The rains of Pillarwhich will make landfall on Tuesday, threaten the coastal areas of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and El Salvador, according to the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC).

The first two victims of the tropical storm They are a 24-year-old young man and a 57-year-old woman, who were "dragged" by strong currents when crossing rivers in the department of La Unión, 200 km east of San Salvador.

Added to the two fatalities is the disappearance of an 18-year-old young man on San Diego beach, in the department of La Libertad, 40 km south of the Salvadoran capital, indicated the deputy director of Civil Protection, Fermín Pérez.

Tropical Storm Pilar burbles off the coast of El Salvador in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Tropical storm conditions are possible beginning early Tuesday along portions of the Pacific coast of El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. pic.twitter.com/z461PGIA9e

— CIRA (@CIRA_CSU) October 30, 2023

With sustained winds of 85 km/hour, according to the most recent NHC report, Pillar It is located 315 km southwest of San Salvador and advances at a speed of 7 km per hour.

For Tuesday, the NHC warns that "further strengthening is expected", so "Pilar could be close to hurricane force". The "weakening" of the storm would begin on Wednesday and continue until Thursday.

"Heavy rainfall from Pilar will produce flash and urban flooding, along with landslides in areas of higher terrain, near the Pacific coast of Central America from El Salvador southward to Costa Rica through Wednesday," the NHC said.

The climate phenomenon reaches Central America on the 25th anniversary of Hurricane Mitchwhich left about 9 thousand dead and million-dollar losses to the economies of the countries in the region.

To mitigate the impact of the storm, the Congress of El Salvador, at the request of President Nayib Bukele, approved the "state of emergency" at midnight on Sunday.

Costa Rica raises the alert level due to the advance of tropical storm Pilar

In Costa Ricathe National Emergency Commission (CNE) "has decided to raise the alert status to orange [nivel tres de cuatro] for the entire Pacific slope," said the head of the organization, Alejandro Picado.

"It is important to mention that a lot of rain will be generated, we have very saturated soils and additionally we will have a rough sea condition, mainly for the North Pacific," he added.

Nicaraguathrough the National System for the Prevention, Mitigation and Attention of Disasters (Sinapred) and by "guidance" from President Daniel Ortega, declared a "state of yellow alert" on Monday night.

Under the yellow alert "extraordinary measures must be taken in the field of disaster management," he reported. The Naval Force Nicaraguan authorities recommended that vessels working at sea "move to a safe port" to avoid damage.

In Guatemalathe authorities also monitored the movement of the stormwhich will cause rain in most of the territory, according to the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred).

The entity issued recommendations to the population in the event of possible sudden river flooding, floods and landslides that affect roads. He also urged to promote "self-evacuation" if necessary.

In HondurasPresident Xiomara Castro asked public services to be ready to respond to possible emergencies and maintain "permanent monitoring" of Pillar.

The state Permanent Contingencies Commission (Copeco) declared "green alert" in the southern departments of Valle and Choluteca, on the Pacific coast. Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, has been under intermittent rain since Sunday, with the risk of landslides due to soil saturation.