The torrential rains caused by Tropical Storm Sara on Nicaraguan territory left one person missing, hundreds of families evacuated, rivers overflowing, landslides, flooding of streets and several isolated towns, according to the preliminary report presented by the director of the System National Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Response (Sinapred), Guillermo González.
The numbers presented by González cover until noon on Saturday, November 16, when the effects of Sara began to diminish, as the phenomenon moved away from Central America.
Related news: Storm Sara causes heavy rains and flooding in Central America
Sinapred did not report any deaths, but did recognize a missing person in Chontales. This is a citizen who was dedicated to selling milk in Cuapa.
Dragged with everything and motorcycle
Journalist María Aragón Bermúdez reported on her Facebook news page that the young man swept away by the San Francisco de Cuapa river was identified as Bismarck Velásquez, a milk seller, who was traveling on his motorcycle when he tried to cross the river over the bridge. Los Laureles neighborhood, of that municipality. Suddenly, the flood of water hit him and he was swept away with everything and his motorcycle.
In a video that went viral on social networks, recorded by a witness, you can see the moment in which the seller crossed the bridge and due to the rise of the water that dragged him away, you can see when he disappeared.
“So far we do not have any deaths, unfortunately we do have a colleague in the department of Chontales, municipality of Cuapa, who crossed a bridge and fell into the currents and is being searched for,” indicated the director of Sinapred.
González, in his report, pointed out that until that moment there were reports of incidents in 15 municipalities in 7 departments of the country: Rivas, Granada, León, Chontales, Masaya, Carazo and Río San Juan.
The municipalities most affected are: Rivas, Tola, San Juan del Sur, Belén, Potosí, Buenos Aires, Nandaime, La Paz Centro, Juigalpa, Niquinohomo, Santa Teresa, Diriamba, La Paz and La Conquista.
An injury was also reported in El Realejo, Chinandega. This is a passenger of a bus who suffered blows when a tree fell on the public transport when it was traveling on a road in that Chinandega municipality.
Two thousand evacuees
The initial evaluation of the incidents in Sara reveal that at least 636 families, totaling more than 2 thousand people, were evacuated to safe places as a result of the denial of their homes or exposure to danger.
816 flooded houses are reported, 2 homes with partial damage and 3 with total damage. 6 families were affected in shelters in a church in Potosí (18 people), 6 schools were flooded, 1 wall collapsed, 7 trees fell, 2 landslides in Rivas.
Related news: Sinapred declares “yellow alert” throughout Nicaragua due to the passage of tropical storm Sara
18 rivers overflowed, including the Ochomogo, Oyate, Cascalojoche, El Gigante, La Conquista, Los Encuentros, El Brasil, El Brujo, Acayo, Flor, Manota, San Lucas, El Torno, Las Tucas, Escamequita, Zaragoza , San Juan and Quebrada Tecomapita. There were 12 isolated communities, such as La Mohosa, Buenavista, San Jorge, La Hormiga, La Solera, San José de los Remates, El Brasil, Los Encuentros, El Naranjo, El Cerro and El Pedernal.
Although González does not report it, damage was reported on social networks in the urban areas of towns in Rivas, Masaya, Chontales and Managua.
Rainy Sunday says Ineter
The director of Meteorology of the Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies (Ineter), Marcia Baca, reported that starting this Sunday morning Sara will move more quickly towards Belize.
“This trajectory is consequently due to the west wind, from the Pacific, bringing a lot of humidity into the territory and therefore the rains will continue throughout the entire Pacific region (on Sunday), mainly in the west of the country,” said Baca. .
