El Salvador Death Toll Rises as Heavy Rain Lashes Central America

The Atlantic Hurricane Season is already upon us, and Central America has been hit hard by torrential rain. The hardest hit is El Salvador, as the death toll in the country continues to climb amid the heavy rain as mudslides and flooding have caused some damage.

Two weather systems are currently lashing Central America, particularly El Salvador and Guatemala. One of them is Tropical Storm Alberto, which had been degraded to a tropical depression but is still dangerous, while the other is a weather system that has developed along the Pacific Coast near Guatemala.

Among the two most recent deaths in El Salvador include two girls, ages 5 and 7, according to the Associated Press. Their deaths were confirmed by the country's Rescue Commands and Civil Protection after it alerted residents to the danger of possible landslides that may happen due to the heavy rains.

The report from the El Salvador government agency revealed that the accumulation of water caused the walls of the girls' home to collapse. Rescuers responded immediately, but it was too late, as it took them several hours to clear the rubble before finding and recovering their already lifeless bodies. Their parents managed to survive the collapse and were soon taken to a nearby hospital.

Four more deaths were also reported, with two older people in the Panchimalco district and two other people in the Planes de Renderos area. Like the two girls, they also died after the walls of their homes collapsed on them.

Civil Protection Director Luis Alonso Amaya soon released a statement saying, "We have already resolved a little more than 1,500 incidents. Among these are 19 dead people, 706 fallen trees, and 521 temporarily obstructed roads. Two of those trees caused the death of three people."

El Salvador Issues State of National Emergency Amid Heavy Rains

After 11 deaths have been reported from the torrential rain, El Salvador has issued a national emergency as mudslides and flooding happened all over the Central American country, according to Fox Weather.

Photos and videos of the devastation have been shared all over social media as the US National Hurricane Center has warned about the possibility of at least three different cyclones happening thanks to the Central American Gyre that is aiding in the development of tropical disturbances in the eastern Pacific, Bay of Campeche or the western Caribbean Sea.

Heavy Rain Also Turns Deadly in Guatemala and Other Central American Countries

It is not just El Salvador that experienced the devastation, but also neighboring Guatemala, which was also forced to close down schools and suffered several fatalities due to mudslides and flooding.

In another wall collapse in the Guatemalan village of Chacaya, one man and one woman were killed as the government opened shelters across the country.

Seven people were killed in a landslide in Ecuador, while 5,000 people were evacuated in Honduras as heavy rains also lashed the country, according to DW.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Several dead in El Salvador as rains lash Central America | REUTERS