Columbia: Central American countries have initiated emergency alerts as tropical storm Julia turned into a hurricane on Saturday evening. As it passed over the Colombian island San Andres and headed towards the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, confirmed the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
“Life threatening flash floods and mudslides possible from heavy rains over Central America and Southern Mexico through early next week”, said NHC.
Columbian President Gustavo Petro referring to the destruction in the Caribbean from Hurricane lota in 2022, said in his speech at a regional summit that he hoped the damage would be less this time. After making landfall in Nicaragua, the hurricane is expected to gradually weaken as it crosses the country.