AT least 14 people have died and hundreds have been evacuated in El Salvador as the first tropical storm of the Eastern Pacific season drenched parts of Central America, officials said.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele decreed a 15-day state of emergency to deal with the rains that began pounding the country Friday ahead of Tropical Storm Amanda’s landfall Sunday.

Interior Minister Mario Duran said the country was “facing a critical situation.”

He added: “The situation in all of the country and especially in the metropolitan area of San Salvador is grave.” The storm had maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour when it hit Sunday morning, but soon dissipated as it moved overland.

Forecasters said that even though it had dissipated, heavy rains could continue to fall over parts of El Salvador, Guatemala, western Honduras and south-eastern Mexico over the next few days.

By Sunday afternoon, Amanda was downgraded to a tropical depression and has since weakened to a tropical rainstorm. But forecasters say dangers from the storm have just begun, with torrential, life-threatening rainfall forecast to persist early this week.

Officials in El Salvador issued a “Red Alert” and extended the state of emergency due to this surge of heavier rain.

As of Sunday night, there are reports of at least 14 deaths in El Salvador due to impacts from Amanda. In Guatemala, nearly 1,500 shelters have been opened for those affected by the storm.

Amanda is forecast to continue tracking to the northwest across Guatemala early this week. The rugged terrain has helped to rip the storm apart, but the remaining tropical moisture will continue to fuel heavy rain and thunderstorms across Central America through the beginning of the week.

“If Amanda were to survive and make it into the Bay of Campeche as a named system, it would be unprecedented,” stated AccuWeather Meteorologist Courtney Travis.

(SD-Agencies)