Tropical Depression Sara drenches Honduras and closes airports, at least one dead

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – Slow-moving Tropical Depression Sara unleashed major rainfall over Honduras this weekend, causing at least one death while forcing thousands to flee their homes and destroying bridges and a highway due to flooding, officials said on Sunday.

Airports in the capital Tegucigalpa and industrial hub San Pedro Sula were shuttered, according to civil aviation officials.

Sara churned to the northwest where it made landfall on neighboring Belize on Sunday, home to ancient ruins, beach resorts and coral reefs popular with tourists. It also threatened major flooding and swollen rivers.

The center of the storm is currently located some 55 miles (88 km) west of Belize City, the tiny Caribbean nation’s commercial hub, according to the latest report from the U.S. National Hurricane Center. The government urged locals to hold Sunday religious services remotely while announcing that all schools would be suspended on Monday as a precaution.

The NHC on Sunday downgraded the storm to a Tropical Depression from a Tropical Storm, and said it expects it to weaken as it moves further inland over Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

The Miami-based forecaster estimates Sara’s maximum sustained winds at 35 miles per hour (55 kph), and its northwesterly movement at only 8 mph (13 kph).

In a report, Honduran risk management officials added that more than 71,000 people had been impacted by the storm, with around 4,000 evacuated from homes and relocated to shelters.

At least 251 communities were listed as cut off from communications as more rain continued to fall Sunday over much of the country, especially eastern and southern areas.

At a virtual press conference, Belize Chief Meteorologist Ronald Gordon noted that some 12 inches (30 cm) of rain hit the central coastal town of Dangriga, south of Belize City, while stressing the risk of localized flooding.

(Reporting by Gustavo Palencia in Tegucigalpa and Jose Sanchez in Belize City; Editing by Andrea Ricci)