Tropical Storm Cristina is making its presence felt in Central America, where the rains associated with the phenomenon have left five people missing in Costa Rica, while Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador are in a state of preventive alert.
The Costa Rican Red Cross reported this Monday five people missing due to the strong waves that have occurred in the Pacific caused by the tropical storm.
Two small vessels capsized at sea off Playa Negra and Playa San Juanillo, in the province of Guanacaste (west), leaving five people missing, who are being searched for by the Red Cross and the National Coast Guard Service.
The National Meteorological Institute (IMN) reported that rains in Costa Rica are expected to persist this Monday and Tuesday as the atmospheric phenomenon continues to move towards the north of Central America, parallel to the Pacific coast.
In Honduras, nine of the country’s 18 departments are under preventive alert starting this Monday for 72 hours due to rains associated with Cristina and the possible flooding of rivers, streams, and creeks that flow into the Pacific slope, as well as increased wave heights in the Gulf of Fonseca.
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The departments under alert are El Paraíso, in the east; Intibucá, Ocotepeque and Lempira, in the west; La Paz, Francisco Morazán and Comayagua, in the center; Choluteca and Valle, in the south of the country.
Guatemalan authorities declared an alert in the face of flood threats that could be caused by the tropical storm “and by all active events” of a climatic nature.
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“The rains recorded in recent days could intensify across much of the national territory” due to Cristina, the civil protection authority in Guatemala specified in a statement.
In El Salvador, the General Directorate of Civil Protection issued a nationwide orange alert given that the tropical storm will favor the entry of moisture from the Pacific Ocean, increasing cloudiness and rainfall over Salvadoran territory.
In all these countries, authorities recommended that the population increase precautionary measures in areas prone to flooding, and not to expose themselves to thunderstorms, high surf, or strong gusts of wind that may occur in isolated areas. E
