Before hitting Mexico, Tropical Storm Bonnie leaves deadly trail in Central America

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At least five people have been killed as Tropical Storm Bonnie swept through Central America.

Four died in Nicaragua and one in El Salvador, officials said.

Bonnie, which has since strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane, is expected to move parallel to the coasts of southern Mexico in the coming days, according to the US National Hurricane Center.

Meteorologists have warned of life-threatening surf and rip currents.

Bonnie made landfall late on Friday on the Caribbean coast in southern Nicaragua and swept north-west across the country to El Salvador’s Pacific coast.

All four of those who died in Nicaragua were swept away by rivers that had been turned into raging torrents by the heavy rains.

One of the victims, 43-year-old Juan Carlos Alemán Mendoza, had been rescuing passengers from a local bus that had been washed away by flooding, local media reported.

Tens of thousands of people across Nicaragua were left without power and more than 10,000 homes had no water.

In El Salvador, one young woman was confirmed dead while rescue workers are searching for at least one missing man.

Parts of the country remain under alert for further possible flooding. Schools will stay closed across El Salvador on Monday, President Nayib Bukele announced on Twitter.

In the capital, San Salvador, roads collapsed and cars were swept away.

Workers stand by a collapsed street after a flood caused by heavy rain, in the aftermath of tropical storm Bonnie, in San Salvador, El Salvador July 3, 2022
In El Salvador’s capital, roads collapsed after heavy rains fell

Bonnie is the third hurricane of the 2022 Eastern North Pacific season, after Hurricane Agatha developed in May and Blas in June, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Source: NOAA

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