Tropical weather systems in both the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico have left hillsides throughout Guatemala and southern Mexico saturated with water. The resulting torrential rains and landslides have left 44 dead including twelve who were killed when a bus was buried by a mudslide Saturday. The death toll is expected to rise as searchers scour devastated areas looking for missing persons.
Around 11,500 residents have been evacuated and 9,000 have taken refuge in shelters, the nation’s disaster agency said. More than 43,000 people are suffering from the brutal rain, said to be the strongest in 60 years.
Over the weekend, authorities closed parts of the Inter-American Highway after rains washed out sections of the road and caused at least two accidents. The emergency agency reported a landslide at kilometer marker 171 knocked a number of vehicles and a bus off the road. When nearby residents rushed to the scene to help, a second mudslide crashed down on the exact same spot.
President Alvaro Colom declared a national emergency Saturday calling the situation a “national tragedy.” The President decreed that Monday would be a day of mourning.
