Tropical Storm Amanda kills at least seven people in El Salvador

Ellena Cruse1 June 2020

At least seven people have been killed, including an eight-year-old boy, after the first tropical storm of the season hit parts of Central America.

Tropical Storm Amanda drenched El Salvador after it arrived on Sunday, causing rivers to overflow, city streets to flood and prompting landslides.

President Nayib Bukele decreed a 15-day state of emergency to deal with the situation, while Interior Minister Mario Duran said the country was “facing a critical situation".

He added: “The situation in all of the country and especially in the metropolitan area of San Salvador is grave.”

Tropical Storm Amanda

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The death toll included a child who was killed when their home collapsed.

One adult died after a wall collapsed, with another drowned in a swollen river, Salvadoran civil protection authorities said.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Amanda, or its remnants, was expected to bring 10 to 15 inches of rain to El Salvador, southern Guatemala, western Honduras, and the Mexican states of Tabasco and Veracruz over the next few days.

The NHC said the effects of Amanda could last for a few days and heavy rainfall will cause multiple issues.
Landslide have caused homes to be destroyed
AFP via Getty Images

"[It could] cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides across portions of Central America and southern Mexico," an NHC spokesman said.

"And these threats will continue over the next several days even after Amanda is no longer a tropical cyclone."

Vehicles are seen in a flooded street of Santa Lucia in Ilopango, El Salvador, during Tropical Storm Amanda
AFP via Getty Images

Amanda was packing maximum sustained winds of nearly 40 miles per hour although these higher gusts are expected to weaken “very soon” as its centre moves further inland, the NHC explained.

It was forecast to slow down or dissipate over the mountains of Central America later.

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