Floods in Nicaragua after over 14 inches of rain in 24 hours in some areas

© SINAPRED

Heavy rain in Nicaragua.

A slow moving low pressure system moving from the Caribbean dumped record amounts of heavy rain on north and south-western Nicaragua on 9 October 2014, causing floods and landslides in the departments of Rivas, Granada, Chinandega and Rio San Juan.

As many as 6,000 people (800 families) have been affected. More than 500 people had to be evacuated and are now being houses in temporary accommodation. SINAPRED (Sistema Nacional para la Prevención, Mitigación y Atención de Desastres) reports that 24 houses have been completely destroyed in the floods, with a further 890 damaged. There are unconfirmed reports that over 20 families have been completey cut off by flooding near the Ochomogo River.

A young girl, aged 5 years old, died when she was swept away in flood waters in the village of Santa Teresa, Ometepe Island.

Record Rainfall

According to a report by SINAPRED, the accumulated rainfall figures over 24 hours were above 60 mm in Masatepe, Masaya, Granada, and over 100 mm in Nandaime, Rivas Tola.



In Altagracia, Rivas Departmenr, 378 mm of rain fell in 24 hours between 08 and 09 October, breaking previous records.



Yesterday Nicaragua's Meteorology departmert, INETER, said that the heavy rain is expected to cintinue for 36 hours.

Heavy rain was also falling elsewhere in the region over the last 24 hours according to WMO. Over 77 mm fell in Belize, 101.6 mm in Puerto Lempra, Honduras, and 73 mm in Pereira, north Colombia.