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Honduras continues to get hard hit by two low-pressure systems — one from the Caribbean and the other from the Pacific — creating torrential downpours and mudslides that have killed at least six people since Thursday and left another missing, according to local media.
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The heaviest rains are falling mainly around the capital of Tegucigalpa and two departments that border the Pacific coast, areas that President Juan Orlando Hernandez placed on red alert on Oct. 6. The rest of the country remains under green alert.
Over 7,000 people have been negatively affected so far by the rains and mudslides that the Permanent Risk Commission of Honduras (Copeco) reports are the result of Tropical Storm Michael. Accuweather reports that the tropical storm is quickly turning into a hurricane and is predicted to affect Cuba and Jamaica before heading up the Atlantic coast of the United States this week.
Thirty-five-year-old Juan Bautista tried to cross a ravine on his horse in the department of Choluteca over the weekend, but both he and his horse drowned.
President Hernandez met with Copeco on Saturday to discuss relief efforts and announced that it is distributing some 62,000 pounds of food to the families that are in the red alert zone, along with mattresses and other home goods damaged by the storms.
On Sunday night, the Honduran head of state urged citizens to take all preventative measures to avoid potentially dangerous situations. The government’s official report of the storm reads that 7,219 people have been affected so far, and 3,259 people have been evacuated by the authorities. Nearly 750 homes have been destroyed or damaged so far sending 4,595 people to temporary housing in schools, colleges, and churches. Seven major rivers have crested and flooded.
Copeco says it has rescued some 18 people from deadly situations.
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