'Julia' makes landfall in Nicaragua as a hurricane

Hurricane 'Julia' made landfall in Nicaragua early this Sunday, specifically in the Laguna de Perlas area of ​​the Autonomous Region of the South Caribbean Coast.

The storm is a category 1 hurricane, the lowest on the Saffir-Simpson scale of five, and made landfall at 1:15 a.m., when it generated sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour and was moving at 26 kilometers per hour in a westerly direction. .

The National Committee for the Prevention, Mitigation and Attention of Disasters of Nicaragua (COMUPRED) has already managed the evacuation of residents of the area who were in danger of suffering floods, reports the news portal 100% Noticias.

Authorities expect the storm to lose strength as it moves overland to regain power when it reaches Pacific waters after crossing the entire country.

The National System for Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Attention has decreed a "state of yellow alert throughout the national territory" and has activated all institutions and emergency plans and prepared transportation, shelter and protection for the protection of people at risk. .

The Nicaraguan authorities hope to have 345 temporary shelter centers available to shelter 68,896 people from 166,047 homes located in 205 critical points, of which 174 are susceptible to flooding and 31 to landslides.

SINAPRED has also forecast possible flooding in the departments (provinces) of Chinandega (northwest), Jinotega (north), Matagalpa (north), Nueva Segovia (north) and Rivas (southeast).

Also other countries threatened by the arrival of 'Julia', such as El Salvador, have begun to take measures before the arrival of the storm. At the request of the Council of Ministers, the Salvadoran Parliament has approved a declaration of "national emergency" in the face of "the climatic situation that the country may face due to the hurricane."

The country's president, Nayib Bukele, has declared this Sunday a "day of prayer." "And although we are preparing as much as we can, all Salvadorans are invited to join in prayer and ask for God's protection," he has made known on his Twitter account.