The first Tropical storm of the 2010 season, Agatha, unleashed relentless rains on the neighboring republics of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras over the weekend. The reported death toll stands at 179 persons across the Central American isthmus. The rains triggered deadly landslides and when coupled with substandard drainage system caused this impressive sinkhole downtown Guatemala city which swallowed a three story building which was a clothing factory. It is 66 feet wide and 100 feet deep. The first named storm of the 2010 Pacific season dumped record amounts of rain in parts of Guatemala and flooded low lying areas in El Salvador and Honduras. 152 people were reported killed, with around 100 reported missing in Guatemala alone. That number is expected to rise as rescuers continue their search of remote villages. Almost One Hundred thousand people have been evacuated from their homes. Nine people were confirmed killed in El Salvador, and twelve reported killed in Honduras. While Belize was spared Agatha's intense thrashing, the storm did produce heavy rains at times over mostly southern Belize.
Meanwhile, today June 1st, starts the Atlantic Hurricane season 2010. And, if the growing number of forecasts are correct, this Hurricane season 2010 could turn out to be a Monster!! Only recently, storm experts were predicting an average Hurricane season this year, but just last week the forecasts have changed drastically with the experts and private forecasting companies talking about up to eight hurricanes likely for the season. Some are going so far as to say that this year could be a lot like 2005, the worst hurricane season on record, making the point that overall conditions are very similar with one important difference: "they are actually a bit worse"!!
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