:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/TKT4OPPNKZDMDI564DU35N73ZA.jpg "Hurricane Lisa: Belize endures heavy rains before the arrival of the cyclone that puts Central America on alert")
Strengthened into a category 1 hurricane and with high winds of 130 km/h, Lisa advanced this Wednesday towards the north of Central Americaespecially threatening Belize and the Yucatan peninsula in southern Mexico.
According to him United States National Hurricane Center (NHC)at 2:00 p.m. GMT on Wednesday Lisa was in the sea about 90 km from Belizeon whose coasts it is expected to impact on the day and where the AFP confirmed an intensification of the rains.
LOOK: Hurricane Lisa: Guatemala suspends classes in the north of the country due to the impact of the cyclone
The meteor is moving at 22 km/h heading west with maximum sustained winds of 130 km/h, corresponding to a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale of 5.
Rain and wind in Belize
The government of Belize declared a red alert for the entire coast while announcing the closure of schools and the opening of several shelters, while evaluating closing the borders.
In Belize Citythe country’s former capital on the northeast coast, had increased rain and wind, while the historic center exhibited flooded streets.
“The phenomenon is very dangerous for us” because in Belize everything “floods quickly with a little rain” and already “a hurricane, winds and so on with a lot of rain, that is the fear of many people,” said Jazmín Ayusola, a secretary 21 years old, to AFP.
Most businesses were also closed due to the hurricane, whose eye is expected to pass through the south of the city.
Little rain in Honduras
The State Center for Atmospheric, Oceanographic and Seismic Studies (Cenaos) of Honduras raised the alert level to “red” for the Bay Islands and to “yellow alert” for Gracias a Dios, Colón, Atlántida and Cortés, in the north of the country.
Ronnie McNab, mayor of Roatán, the departmental capital of Islas de la Bahía, reversed a declaration of a state of emergency.
“The Municipal State of Emergency is suspended, the population can return to their usual activities,” he said in a message on the mayor’s Facebook page, adding that “measures in aquatic activities are maintained.”
McNab also ordered the closure of all businesses starting this Wednesday and only left pharmacies and gas stations open.
For his part, the civil protection commissioner of Roatán, Andy López, said that the island was hit by rains and gusts of light winds and the sea was rough but without reaching high waves.
Floods in Guatemala
In Guatemala, the authorities were preparing for the arrival on Thursday of the cyclone, which is already generating rains in the northern department of Petén, which borders Belize and Mexico, Rodolfo García, spokesman for the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred) told journalists. ).
The official reported the flooding of the urban area and a road in the municipality of Melchor de Mencos, on the border with Belize, although without reporting any serious damage.
It is expected that Lisa enter Guatemala through Petén as a storm on Thursday and later degrade to a tropical depression in Mexico, according to projections, García added.
El Salvador also maintains surveillance and 24 municipalities in different areas of the country, where there are places with high vulnerability to floods or landslides that are under a red alert, said the director of Civil Protection, Luis Amaya.
Lisa affects Central America almost three weeks after Julia, which hit Nicaragua as a hurricane, left fifty dead in the region, almost half of them drowned in Honduras and the rest buried by landslides in Guatemala and El Salvador, in addition to lost millionaires
Source: Elcomercio
I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.
