Guatemala is preparing for the arrival of Julia, the tropical storm that strengthened this Friday, October 7, as it passed through the north of Colombia and Venezuela and that On its way, it plans to impact the country between next Monday and Tuesday.
The National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred) currently has some 1,855 shelters throughout the country, that could come into operation if necessary, according to the entity’s spokesman, Rodolfo García.
Of the total number of shelters, the majority are concentrated in Huehuetenango (364), San Marcos (263), Quiché (206), Guatemala (124), Escuintla (111) and Santa Rosa (107).
Regarding the supply of supplies for the shelters, García stated that since the beginning of the rainy season, the departmental warehouses that would be ready if they are needed due to the rains that are forecast for next week.
Due to the fact that the rains have stopped in recent days, currently, only the southern part of the country shows levels above 70% saturation in the upper layer of the soil (20 to 30 centimeters), while from 30 centimeters to one meter deep The Northern Transversal Strip, Petén, the Caribbean and the Boca Costa currently present the highest levels.
Monitor cold front and storm
The rains in the country could intensify from Sunday, when a cold front will also approach Yucatan, Mexico, which could cause two meteorological effects to have effects in the region.
🔴 Guatemala on institutional red alert for COVID-19 and Tropical Storm Julia. pic.twitter.com/xh0yIGZbco
— CONRED (@ConredGuatemala) October 8, 2022
“The experience we have is that when the high pressure that displaces the cold front is blocked with a low pressure system, the most serious problem is that it makes it stationary, it has no movement and can increase its radius of action and leaves more rain”, said César George, forecaster of the National Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology (Insivumeh).
In the next 24 hours, Julia could strengthen in its path through the Atlantic Ocean and reach a category 1 hurricane; however, if it continues with the current route, it would cross Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras, but it could reach Guatemala being a tropical depression, according to the scientific entity.
The rains will begin to be felt as of Sunday in the Northern Transversal Strip and Petén, and then they could increase in the central plateau, and as of Tuesday, in the south coast.
INSIVUMEH reports:
Monitoring continues for Tropical Storm Julia located at 12.8 N and 75.2 W within our warning area (green zone). The system continues to move westward at a speed of 30 km/h, slowly approaching Central America. 1/4 pic.twitter.com/KLJSKBnTMC– INSIVUMEH Guatemala (@insivumehgt) October 8, 2022
According to George, it is expected that there will be places where between 150 and 200 millimeters of rain will fall in two or three days as the storm passes, but they are concerned that in the case of Puerto Barrios, in Izabal, floods occur when more than 75 millimeters of rain are exceeded in about three to five hours.
Given the possibility that Julia could impact the country, Guatemala declared itself on institutional red alert, according to Conred publications.
The indirect and direct effects of said system will begin to appear on Sunday with intermittent rains and drizzles, starting a rainy season that would last for the beginning of the week. 3/4 pic.twitter.com/rSiAFqKRZd
– INSIVUMEH Guatemala (@insivumehgt) October 8, 2022
