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92 dead as torrential rains hit Mexico, Central America

18 October 2011 04:13 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The death toll from the week-long torrential rains have risen to 92 in Mexico and Central America, with over 500,000 people being affected across the region, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The latest official figures showed nearly 530,000 people have been affected, and a total of 60,051 people have been evacuated to safety from the rains, mudslides and massive flooding caused by Hurricanes Jova and Irwin and three other tropical storms which all have hit the region since last week.

Images from all the countries in the region showed raging rivers, massive landslides, blocked and collapsed roads, and wide areas of flood.

Some of previous hurricanes had led to major disasters in latin America.

Over 2,000 people were killed across southern Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador when heavy rains from Hurricane Stan in 2005 provoked landslides and flooding, while over 10,000 people were killed in Nicaragua and Honduras in the 1998 mudslides caused by Hurricane Mitch.

According to weather forecasts, southern Mexico and Central America are facing situations similar to Stan and Mitch, where months-long torrential rains from an intense 2011 hurricane season have left soils saturated with water and extremely vulnerable to landslides.