Guatemala girds for first Pacific storm of season

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Guatemala girds for first Pacific storm of season
By Herbert Hernandez Herbert Hernandez – 2 hrs 35 mins ago

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – Guatemalans prepared on Saturday for the arrival of Tropical Storm Agatha, the first named storm of the 2010 Pacific hurricane season, which was expected to bring heavy flooding to some areas.

Emergency workers reported rivers were already swollen by heavy rain and warned flooding could be worse than usual due to ash from the erupting Pacaya volcano south of the capital that has blocked drainage systems.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Agatha formed on Saturday morning and had maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour. Agatha was located 170 miles west-southwest of the port of San Jose in Guatemala and was expected to make landfall in Guatemala on Sunday.

The Miami-based hurricane center said the storm would dump up to 20 inches of rain over southeastern Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador which could trigger flash floods and mudslides.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100529/wl_nm/us_storm_centralamerica