Belize on alert as Tropical Storm Sara moves along Honduran coast bringing heavy rain

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (AP) — Belize issued tropical storm warnings for the Central American country’s coast on Friday as Tropical Storm Sara stalled in the western Caribbean, dousing Honduras’ northern coast with heavy rain.

Sustained rain fell overnight in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, with no immediate sign of serious flooding.

Sara was forecast to drop 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of rain, with up to 30 inches in isolated areas of northern Honduras. The heavy rain could lead to life-threatening flooding and landslides, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center.

The weather system made landfall late Thursday about 105 miles (165 kilometers) west-northwest of Cabo Gracias a Dios, on the Honduras-Nicaragua border, the center reported. That is near Brus Laguna, a village of about 13,000 inhabitants. There are few other areas of population nearby.

In November 2020, Eta and Iota passed through Honduras after initially making landfall in Nicaragua as powerful Category 4 hurricanes. Northern Honduras caught the worst of the storms with torrential rains that set off flooding that displaced hundreds of thousands. Eta alone was responsible for as much as 30 inches of rain along the northern coast.

Sara moved back out into the Caribbean overnight and by Friday morning was located just south of the island of Roatan, a small-scale tourism destination.

In its latest update, the hurricane center said the storm was located about 170 miles (270 kilometers) southeast of Belize City and was moving west at 2 mph (4 kph), with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph).

Sara was expected to continue to slow and then possibly strengthen slightly, but remain roughly on that path and threaten Belize’s coast over the weekend.

It is then expected to turn northwesterly towards Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, though forecasters said it probably won’t reemerge into the Gulf after crossing the Yucatan.

“What remains of the system when it emerges into the Bay of Campeche in the Gulf of Mexico is not very favorable for redevelopment,” according to the hurricane center.

Mexican authorities warned that it could cause “intense rains” over the resort-studded Yucatan Peninsula.

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