Hurricane Ida leaves 91 dead in El Salvador
Sunday, 8 November 2009
At least 91 people are dead and another 60 are missing following deadly floods and mudslides in El Salvador triggered by the passage of Hurricane Ida.
Ida swept past the Mexican resort of Cancun and aimed for the Gulf of Mexico but is expected to weaken gradually as it heads toward some of the oil and gas production facilities in the central Gulf, the US National Hurricane Centre said.
The storm reached hurricane force again late last night and strengthened to a Category 2 storm with sustained winds of near 145kph.
Energy companies in the Gulf of Mexico were monitoring Ida, but so far oil and gas production have not been affected.
The hurricane centre set a hurricane watch from Grand Isle, Louisiana to Mexico Beach in northwestern Florida, but did not include the city of New Orleans.
A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions are expected in the area within 36 hours.
In El Salvador, rivers burst their banks and hillsides collapsed under relentless rains triggered by Ida's passage, cutting off parts of the mountainous interior from the rest of the country.
In Mexico, the government urged people to avoid unnecessary travel in the Yucatan Peninsula and imposed restrictions on coastal shipping.
In Cancun the airport remained open but there were no plans to evacuate approximately 12,000 people visiting the resort, which is popular with US tourists.
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