TEGUCIGALPA, Aug 20, 2011 (AFP) - Central American emergency services were on alert Saturday as Tropical Storm Harvey -- forecast to turn into a full-fledged hurricane -- barreled across the Caribbean and gathered strength. By 1200 GMT, Harvey was around 105 miles (170 kilometers) southeast of Belize City, with maximum sustained winds of 60 miles (95 kilometers) per hour. It was moving westward at 12 miles (19 kilometers) per hour, the Miami-based US National Hurricane Center said, predicting "hurricane conditions" along part of the Belize coast later on Saturday.
The NHC said Harvey could become a hurricane before it moves inland Saturday afternoon or evening, and that a US Air Force Reserve "Hurricane Hunter" was en route to the storm to carry out measurements. Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico issued tropical storm warnings, though the NHC said Mexico has canceled its warning for the southeastern Yucatan Peninsula, while Nicaragua braced for heavy rainfall. Strong winds were also possible along the northern coasts of both Honduras and along Guatemala. Harvey was expected to produce between three and six inches (8-15 centimeters) of rainfall accumulations across Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula, with up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) in some areas. "These rains could produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, especially over higher terrain," the NHC said. In Honduras, emergency services raised their alert from green to yellow for 72 hours in the Caribbean shore departments of Gracias a Dios, Colon, Atlantida, Cortes and the Bay Islands. Guatemala's disaster reduction coordinator declared an orange alert over the storm, while Nicaragua was "paying close attention" to the weather pattern.
Stormy weather killed hundreds of people last year in Central America, a region highly vulnerable to weather disaster due to its rugged terrain and poor infrastructure. Over 50,000 people have died over the past four decades from natural disasters that have also caused billions of dollars in damages in the region, which the United Nations considers among the world's most vulnerable to climate change. In Guatemala alone, heavy rains left 174 people dead and over $1 billion in damages last year, while landslides in Costa Rica killed 24 people and caused $330 million in damage.
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