Hurricane Julia hits Nicaragua with torrential rainfall

Hurricane Julia batters Nicaragua as a Category 1 storm with torrential rainfall, flash flooding, mudslides and 85mph winds after smashing Colombia before heading to Mexico

• Hurricane Julia hit  Nicaragua’s central Caribbean coast on Sunday 
• The Category 1 hurricane brought  85mph winds and flood water to the region
•  Life-threatening flash floods and mudslides are now expected across Central America and southern Mexico through Tuesday
• Colombia’s national disaster agency reported Sunday that Julia blew the roofs off at least five houses and knocked over trees, but there were no reported casualties 

Hurricane Julia hit Nicaragua’s central Caribbean coast on Sunday after lashing Colombia’s San Andres island, and a weakened storm was expected to emerge over the Pacific.

Julia hit as a Category 1 hurricane early Sunday with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, though its winds had dipped to tropical storm force, 70 mph, by late morning as it pushed across Nicaragua with heavy rains.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Julia was centered about 65 miles east-northeast of Managua, the capital, and was moving west at 15 mph.

People in a vehicle drive past a fallen tree after Hurricane Julia hits the coasts with wind and rain, in Bluefields, Nicaragua on Saturday

People get into a pickup truck to be transported to a safe zone while Hurricane Julia hits the coasts with wind and rain, in Bluefields, Nicaragua on Saturday

People evacuated toward refugee centers after Julia made landfall as a category 1 hurricane and has since weakend to a tropical storm, bringing heavy rains that could trigger life-threatening flash floods and mudslides

People are evacuated toward refugee centers before the landing of hurricane Julia in Bluefields, Nicaragua on Sunday

Workers at a gas station place protection cases over pumps before the landing of hurricane Julia in Bluefields, Nicaragua, on Sunday

A worker covers a gasoline pump with plastic after Hurricane Julia hits the coasts with wind and rain, in Bluefields, Nicaragua on Saturday

It said life-threatening flash floods and mudslides were possible across Central America and southern Mexico through Tuesday, with the storm expected to bring as much as 15 inches of rain in isolated areas.

Colombia’s national disaster agency reported Sunday that Julia blew the roofs off at least five houses and knocked over trees, but there were no reported casualties as it blasted past San Andres Island east of Nicaragua.

In Nicaragua, Vice President Rosario Murillo told TN8 television that there had been no reports of deaths so far, but power and communications were cut to some areas. She said that 9,500 people had been evacuated to shelters.

This Saturday, satellite image made available by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Tropical Storm Julia at 4pm

 Julia is gaining strength heading westward in the southern Caribbean

Local news media showed images of trees toppled across roads.

Guillermo González, director of Nicaragua´s Disaster Response System, told official media that people at high risk had been evacuated from coastal areas by noon Saturday. The army said it delivered humanitarian supplies to Bluefields and Laguna de Perlas for distribution to 118 temporary shelters.

A woman walks under heavy rain along the road in the municipality of Santa Ana, department of Francisco Morazan, Honduras, before the arrival of Hurricane Julia on Sunday

A man walks along the road in the municipality of Santa Ana, department of Francisco Morazan, Honduras, before the arrival of Hurricane Julia on October 9

A man walks along the road in the municipality of Santa Ana, department of Francisco Morazan, Honduras, before the arrival of Hurricane Julia on October 9. Hurricane Julia touched down on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast early Sunday morning –carrying with it the threat of flash flooding and mudslides– before traveling near or along the Pacific coasts of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala through Monday, the NHC said

A damaged window of a hotel is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Julia in San Andres island, Colombia on Sunday

Cars are parked on a flooded street in the aftermath of Hurricane Julia in San Andres island, Colombia. Hurricane Julia hit Nicaragua’s central Caribbean coast on Sunday after lashing Colombia’s San Andres island, and a weakened storm was expected to emerge over the Pacific

The storm was forecast to emerge over the Pacific and skirt the coasts of El Salvador and Guatemala, a region already saturated by weeks of heavy rains.

In Guatemala, storms since early May had already caused caused at least 49 confirmed deaths, with six people missing. Roads and hundreds of homes have been damaged, Guatemalan officials say.

In El Salvador, where 19 people have died this rainy season, the worst rainfall was expected Monday and Tuesday, said Fernando López, the minister of environmental and natural resources. Officials said they had opened 61 shelters with the capacity to house more than 3,000 people.

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