Hundreds of people were evacuated in Guatemala after torrential rain brought by Hurricane Earl caused several rivers to overflow in the north of the country.
Hurricane Earl made landfall in Belize on 04 August 2016, near Belize City. After hitting Belize, Earl moved towards West-Northwest, causing major damages in Mexico southern-eastern and central states and in Petén and Quiché departments in Guatemala.
According to Guatemala National Coordinator for Disaster Risk Reduction (Coordinadora Nacional para la Reducción de Desastres, CONRED), as of 05 August, over 1,000 people have been affected in the departments of Petén and Quiché due to the passage of Tropical Storm Earl. Over 860 of those affected are in Petén, where 1 person has been reported injured.
CONRED say that 162 homes have been damaged in Petén department. Over 700 people have evacuated their homes, with 413 of them accommodated in temporary shelters (228 in Petén and 185 in Quiché).
In Petén, the affected areas include Dolores Flores, La Libertad, Melchor de Mencos, San Benito, San Jose and Santa Ana.
The torrential rain caused the overflow of several rivers in Dolores, San Benito and Melchor de Menos Municipalities, resulting in a bridge collapsing. Due to the severe weather conditions, power outages occurred on Thursday 04 August affecting as many as 63,000 people in Petén.
In Quiché, the communities of San Jorge, Tres Lagunas, Tres Ríos and Armenia and Armenia, in the the municipality of Ixcán, have been affected.
Rivers
CONRED report that levels of several rivers in Petén are flowing above alert levels. Currently La Pasión stands at 3.46 meters, above the alert level of 3.00 meters. As of yesterday, 08 August, the San Pedro River recorded a level of 2.40 meters and the alert level is 2.00 meters. Lake Petén Itza in the municipality of San José, Petén is also above alert level.
