Tropical Storm Pilar is believed to have killed two people in El Salvador as it pounded Central America with heavy rain on Tuesday and snaked off the Pacific coast.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said early Tuesday that Pilar was located about 275 miles south-southwest of San Salvador and was moving east-northeast at 3 mph with winds of 50 mph.
The storm is expected to maintain its general path Tuesday, hovering just off the coast for more than a day before abruptly changing direction and returning to the ocean Thursday without making landfall, the center said. That’s what it means.
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The storm was predicted to dump 5 to 10 inches of rain from El Salvador to Costa Rica, with some areas receiving up to 15 inches.
A 24-year-old man and a 57-year-old woman were swept away by a swollen river in La Union state on Sunday, according to Fermín Pérez, deputy director of El Salvador’s civil defense agency. Their bodies were discovered Monday, Perez said.
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El Salvador’s government put the country on alert on Sunday, prompting Congress to declare a national state of emergency and civil defense authorities to authorize forced evacuations of people at risk.
Classes have been canceled across the country until Wednesday, and about 100 evacuation shelters have been prepared.
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Further up the Pacific coast, Mexican authorities continue recovery efforts after Category 5 Hurricane Otis pummeled Acapulco last week, killing at least 46 people and leaving dozens missing.