GUATEMALA CITY — The death toll in Central America from landslides and flooding triggered by the year’s first tropical storm surged to 99 on Sunday, as authorities struggled to clear roads of debris and reach cut-off communities.
Torrential rains that have pounded an area stretching from southern Mexico nearly to Nicaragua eased somewhat, as rivers continued to rise and word filtered out from isolated areas of more deaths in landslides.
In Guatemala, 82 people were killed as rains unleashed lethal landslides across the country, said government disaster relief spokesman David de Leon. Fifty-three were missing.
Tropical Storm Agatha made landfall near the nation’s border with Mexico with winds up to 45 mph Saturday and was dissipating Sunday over the mountains of western Guatemala.
In El Salvador, President Mauricio Funes warned that the danger had not passed and reported nine deaths.
“Although the storm appears to be diminishing in intensity, the situation across the country remains critical,” Funes said.
In Honduras, eight deaths were linked to the weather .
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami warned that remnants of the storm were expected to deliver 10 to 20 inches of rain over southeastern Mexico, Guatemala and parts of El Salvador.
As of Sunday afternoon, 112,000 people in Guatemala had been evacuated, many to shelters. At least 3,500 homes sustained major damage.
Thirteen died in one landslide that tore through the community of San Antonio Palopo on the banks of Lake Atitlan, a popular tourist attraction 40 miles east of Guatemala City. In El Salvador, there were at least 140 landslides throughout the country.
