气候变化领域集成服务门户

Democracy Dies in DarknessSign in

clockThis article was published more than 1 year ago

Democracy Dies in DarknessClimateEnvironment Weather Climate Solutions Climate Lab Green Living Business of Climate ClimateEnvironment Weather Climate Solutions Climate Lab Green Living Business of Climate Capital Weather GangJulia strikes Nicaragua as hurricane with ‘life-threatening’ floodingDevastating inland mudslides are possible with up to 15 inches of rainBy Matthew Cappucci and Samantha SchmidtOctober 9, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. EDTFishermen look at boats partially submerged in water after Hurricane Julia swept through the area in Bluefields, Nicaragua on Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022. (Inti Ocon/AP)

Listen5 min

ShareComment on this story

Comment

Add to your saved storiesSave

Tropical Storm Julia is drifting westward through Nicaragua, bringing what the National Hurricane Center warns could be “life-threatening flash floods and mudslides” in Central America and southern Mexico. Up to 15 inches of rain are possible in the higher terrain of Nicaragua and El Salvador as Julia’s circulation continues to disintegrate inland and unload moisture.

Julia made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane around Laguna de Perlas, Nicaragua, at 3:15 a.m. local time Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center. Maximum winds were around 85 mph. As of 11 a.m., Julia, centered 65 miles east-northeast of Managua, Nicaragua, had weakened to a tropical storm with 70 mph winds as it moved west at 15 mph.

Watches and warnings were discontinued for the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, but tropical storm warnings were in effect for the coast of El Salvador and the Pacific coast of Nicaragua and Honduras on Sunday.

Tracking Tropical Storm Julia

The Associated Press reported that several thousand people in Nicaragua were evacuated from low-lying coastal areas ahead of the storm and that local news media showed images of trees down across roads.

Before crashing ashore in Central America, Julia swept across the Colombian islands of Providencia and San Andrés just east of Nicaragua. On Sunday morning, authorities said the winds and rain left minimal damage on the islands, where residents had braced for another powerful storm less than two years after Hurricane Iota ravaged the archipelago.

In a tweet Sunday morning, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said the passage of the hurricane through the island of San Andrés left “minor damage,” including two people injured, two homes destroyed and 101 homes damaged. “Its passage through Providencia was milder,” Petro said. “As soon as air operations are restored, aid will arrive.”

Colombia’s national disaster risk management unit reported that five homes on San Andrés had lost roofs and four sectors of the island experienced flooding.

Everth Hawkins, governor of the archipelago of San Andrés and Providencia, said in an interview on W Radio on Sunday morning that authorities were able to begin evaluating the condition of the islands around 2 a.m. and found several fallen trees on homes and roof tiles ripped off houses. About four or five homes in Providencia were damaged, Hawkins said.

While authorities continued to assess the impact of the storm, Hawkins said the damage was not “catastrophic,” and paled in comparison with the destruction of Iota nearly two years ago, especially on the hard-hit island of Providencia.

The archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina has a combined population of about 50,000 people, according to the most recent census figures.

Julia is the 10th named storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season. The season to date has defied forecasts of an active season, with activity thus far only about 81 percent of average. That is based on a metric of accumulated cyclone energy, a figure that takes into account the intensity and duration of a storm. It is a rough estimate for how much energy storms expend on their strong winds.