People walk along streets flooded in a community cut off by flooding in the aftermath of tropical storm Sara, in El Marion, Honduras, November 16, 2024. REUTERS/Fritz Pinnow
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) -Slow-moving Tropical Depression Sara headed on to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula after unleashing widespread floods over Honduras and Belize that killed at least one person and forced thousands to flee, officials said on Sunday.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast that Sara will weaken as it moves further inland over Mexico's Quintana Roo state, but warned that rainfall over the area could trigger floods and mudslides.
The Miami-based forecaster estimates Sara's maximum sustained winds at 35 mph (56 kph), while its northwesterly movement had picked up to 12 mph (19 kph).
The center of the storm is currently located some 160 miles (257 km) southeast of the city of Campeche, Mexico, according to the latest NHC report.
"Don't take anything for granted! Secure loose objects and everything that could become a projectile," Mexico's national emergency services advised in a post on X.
Honduran risk management officials said more than 110,000 people had been impacted by the storm, with around 8,000 evacuated from homes and some 5,000 relocated to shelters.
It listed 1,700 local communities that had been cut off from communications as more rain continued to fall Sunday over much of the country, especially in the eastern and southern areas.
Some coffee farms in Honduras, Central America's top producer, were also likely impacted in low-lying coastal areas in the northeast and south, but no estimates of damage were immediately available.
Over the weekend, Sara churned to the northwest where it made landfall on neighboring Belize, home to ancient ruins, beach resorts and coral reefs popular with tourists.
At a virtual press conference on Sunday, Belize Chief Meteorologist Ronald Gordon noted that some 12 inches (30 cm) of rain had hit the central coastal town of Dangriga, south of Belize City, while stressing the risk of localized flooding.
Earlier in the day, the Belizean government urged locals to hold religious services remotely, while announcing that all schools would be suspended on Monday as a precaution.
(Reporting by Gustavo Palencia in Tegucigalpa and Jose Sanchez in Belize City; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Nicholas Yong)
