At least 91 people have been killed and another 60 or more are missing after floods and mudslides in El Salvador triggered by Hurricane Ida, the government said on Sunday. The nation's Interior Minister Humberto Centeno called it "a tragedy" and said rescue workers were still struggling to reach some of the worst affected areas.
"Up until noon there have been, sadly, 91 deaths in all five (affected) provinces. There are 60 people missing in just the province of San Vicente," Centeno told a news conference.
Hurricane Ida, which grew to a category two Sunday, was now churning towards Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Forecasters at the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Ida had strengthened packing top wind speeds of 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour as it moved towards Mexico's Caribbean coast - a popular spot for tourists.
The storm has already caused heavy flooding in El Salvador that left an unknown number of people missing. "Unfortunately we have to report the number of dead has increased because of the rains, we now count 50 individuals," the head of El Salvador's civil protection service, Jorge Melendez told AFP.
Melendez added "there could be more fatalities" in the eastern regions of Verapaz and Tepetitan, where rescue services have already recorded 20 deaths. In Tepetitan, a landslide carried away some 30 houses, authorities said. Some residents had agreed to evacuate the area, but a number "refused to leave their homes," according to mayor Ana Jovel.
El Salvador has been on a state of alert since Thursday as heavy rains associated with Ida began to affect the region, destroying an estimated 930 homes and leaving some 13,000 people homeless in Nicaragua.
On Saturday, Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega said his government hoped to make available up to 4.4 million dollars in aid for those affected by the storm. At 1800 GMT on Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said Ida was about 100 miles (155 kilometers) north-north-east of Cozumel, Mexico, moving near 10 miles (17 kilometers) per hour. "Ida is expected to begin losing tropical characteristics in Tuesday as it nears the Gulf Coast but it could reach the coast as a tropical cyclone," the NHC said.
A hurricane watch has been issued for parts of the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as for the area east of the Mississippi-Alabama border through the north-west area of Florida. This year, the Pacific's El Nino ocean-warming phenomenon has resulted in an especially calm Atlantic hurricane season - a welcome respite for Caribbean and south-eastern US residents still smarting from a 2008 pounding.