Agatha, the first named storm of this year's Pacific hurricane season, lashed Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador killing at least 180 people - most

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Nicholas Evans
5 years ago
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1 Agatha, the first named storm of this year's Pacific hurricane season, lashed Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador killing at least 180 people - most of them Guatemalan - and leaving tens of thousands homeless.

2 Parts of the country have received their highest rainfall in half a century, according to Guatemala's national meteorological institute

3 Guatemala s storm season lasts until the end of October, and the heaviest rains usually fall later in the year

4 Communities affected by the storm will be vulnerable to unstable food supplies, putting pressure on already dwindling food stocks, aid agencies say. They also fear disruption to harvests and increased food shortages in the coming months.

5 24 Flooding caused by Tropical Storm Agatha in Retalhuleu, Guatemala May 30, (REUTERS/Casa Presidencial) #

6 The sinkhole caused by the rains of Tropical Storm Agatha in Guatemala City is estimated to be 30 meters wide and over 60 meters deep. The sinkhole formed Saturday, swallowing a clothing factory about three miles from the site of a similar sinkhole three years ago. The clothing factory had closed only an hour before it plunged into the Earth

8 The toll from torrential rains and landslides in Guatemala moved higher Monday September 6th, with disaster officials reporting 44 dead, 56 injured and 16 missing. 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 at risk from the punishing rain, said to be the strongest in 60 years.

9 A state of emergency has been declared in Guatemala, where flooding has been blamed for the deaths of 36 people and up to 100 are feared to have been buried by landslides.

Landslides kill dozens in Guatemala 6 September 2010 Last updated at 00:10 ET Help Guatemalan authorities say at least 36 people have been killed in landslides caused by weeks of heavy rains.

10 Landslides kill dozens in Guatemala 6 September 2010 Last updated at 00:10 ET Help Guatemalan authorities say at least 36 people have been killed in landslides caused by weeks of heavy rains. In the worst incident, a hillside collapsed on a crowd of volunteers as they tried to dig out a bus buried by a previous mudslide. At least 20 bodies have been recovered, but the search for around 40 people still missing has been suspended for fear of further landslides.

11 (Reuters) - A massive landslide buried up to 100 people in Guatemala trying to dig out a bus caught in deep mud as torrential rains battered the country.

14 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 at risk from the punishing rain, said to be the strongest in 60 years.

17 More than 100km (65 miles) of the Inter-American highway is closed to all traffic, and many other roads have been blocked.

20 In Guatemala, the face of poverty and hunger is young, indigenous and rural. Guatemala, with the fourth highest rate of chronic malnutrition in the world and the highest in Latin America and the Caribbean, faces a serious challenge to reduce chronic undernutrition, currently at 49.3% among children under 5. The situation is worse in rural areas of the country where the indigenous population is concentrated; in the highlands of Guatemala, seven out of ten children under 5 are malnourished. There are several reasons behind these rates: national health services cover approximately 60% of the country; most of the rural areas lack water and sanitation systems and have a limited access to an adequate diet due to income restrictions. In rural areas, the minimum wage covers around 75% of the basic food basket, and poverty reaches 70% of population.

Communities affected by the storm will be vulnerable to unstable food supplies, putting pressure on already dwindling food stocks, aid agencies say.

21 Communities affected by the storm will be vulnerable to unstable food supplies, putting pressure on already dwindling food stocks, aid agencies say. They also fear disruption to harvests and increased food shortages in the coming months. The Guatemalan government estimates that over a quarter of all maize crops, the country's staple food, have been damaged in the wake of the tropical storm. The result will be a lack of maize from August onwards, which will affect food security and job opportunities

El Salvador. Guatemala. Nicaragua.

El Salvador. Guatemala. Nicaragua. Since October 10, incessant rains in Central America have caused severe flooding & mudslides in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras & Nicaragua The death toll has reached 91 and continues to rise as the bodies