Thousands affected by floods

One dead and one missing is the balance left by the rains of the last two days in Nicaragua, according to government reports that decreed a RED ALERT in the two autonomous regions of the Caribbean and in eight departments of the Pacific and north of the country.

A 20-year-old woman identified as Doribel González Jirón, drowned in the municipality of El Ayote, in the central zone of the country, after an incident caused by the flooding of a river. A missing person is also registered in the department of Boaco.

According to official government media, the red alert is for Chinandega, Jinotega, León, Managua, Matagalpa, Nueva Segovia, the Northern Caribbean Autonomous Region (RACN) and the Southern Caribbean Autonomous Region (RACS). Then the red alert was extended to Granada and Boaco.

The yellow alert, decreed 13 days ago, remains in force in the rest of the country, according to government authorities.

The rains affecting Nicaragua are due to the presence of a tropical wave moving from east to west, which until Tuesday afternoon had a 60% chance of evolving to a tropical depression, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

According to the reports of the National System for the Prevention, Mitigation and Attention of Disasters (Sinapred), the rains caused affectations in the municipalities of León, Matagalpa, Nueva Segovia, Jinotega and Estelí.

In total, 1,477 people from 35 neighborhoods and communities in those departments are affected due to rainfall. 74% of those affected are in Matagalpa, according to the report.

Classes were suspended in 159 public schools and 22 private schools in Matagalpa, the Ministry of Education reported.

The Sinapred indicated that some 253 houses were flooded and another seven with partial damages in the infrastructure.

The rains will continue this Wednesday in different regions of the country.