Tropical Storm Bonnie makes landfall in Nicaragua

TODAY NICARAGUA – Tropical storm Bonnie made landfall in the southern Caribbean of Nicaragua at nine o’clock Friday night, according to the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Tropical Storm #Bonnie Advisory 18: Center of Bonnie Makes Landfall Near the Nicaragua-Costa Rica Border. Tropical Storm Conditions and Heavy Rains Spreading Across Portions of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. https://t.co/VqHn0u1vgc

— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) July 2, 2022

According to the NHC, the tropical storm reached Nicaraguan territory with winds of 85 kilometers per hour, with stronger gusts. At 6:00 pm, Bonnie was located 130 kilometers south-southwest of Bluefields, with sustained winds of 75 kilometers per hour.

Friday morning the phenomenon officially acquired the category of tropical storm and the name ‘Bonnie’. According to the National Hurricane Center, it will generate heavy rains as it enters the southern part of Nicaragua.

This storm is expected to cross the country, from east to west, and exit through the Isthmus of Rivas towards the Pacific Ocean on Saturday afternoon.

The director of Meteorology of the Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies (Ineter), Marcio Baca; that of the National System for Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Attention (Sinapred), Guillermo González and the designated vice president of the country, Rosario Murillo, appeared at about ten o’clock at night in official media and sent a message to the population to ” do not lower your guard” and be careful in areas where there is saturation of the soil.

Green and yellow alert

Prior to the entry of the meteorological phenomenon, the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo decreed a green and yellow alert. In addition, it ordered the evacuation of people in a vulnerable situation in the areas of the South Caribbean Coast.

The dictator gave a speech prior to Bonnie’s arrival and assured that they guarantee the protection of the population and that members of the Nicaraguan Army, the Police and State institutions are “on the ground.”

Así se encuentra San Jorge, Rivas. Vigilantes del puerto dicen que los zarpes de hoy fueron cancelados. Están atentos al clima, porque dependiendo de eso, decidirán las salidas de los barcos el sábado. pic.twitter.com/Gy6XI7j9H1

— LA PRENSA Nicaragua (@laprensa) July 2, 2022

Almost all Central American countries on alert

Almost all the countries in the region remain on alert for the arrival of tropical storm Bonnie and the damage it could cause. In its trajectory, it is expected that it will cover part of the south of Nicaragua and the north of Costa Rica.

According to the National Hurricane Center of the United States, the progress of this phenomenon must be monitored along the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, as well as the Pacific coasts of El Salvador, Guatemala and the South of Mexico.

Evacuations in Nicaragua

The spokesman for the Red Cross of the South Caribbean, Denis Bravo, told the AFP press agency that 34 shelters were established in Bluefields and the critical points that will require evacuation were visited.

Residents of the communities of Río Maíz and Monkey Point were transferred to shelters in Bluefields.

The “people of Monkey Point were evacuated because we know that the wind on those sides will be strong and they are close to the sea,” the deputy mayor of Bluefields, Carla Martín, told AFP.

The carriers and fishermen took their boats to a safe place and the population stocked up as best they could with food and plastic.

Indigenous people from the Kukra Hill community, who had been stranded in Bluefields shopping, left in the last boats for their community, the agency reported.

“There are more forests and mountains” to take refuge, Teodoro Mendoza told AFP, before leaving on a boat full of passengers.

Towards nightfall, the naval force evacuated dozens of indigenous people from the insular community of Rama Cay to a shelter that had been opened at a university in Bluefields. “Everyone is worried” about the storm, fisherman Johny Taylor told AFP at the shelter, as young volunteers from the city cooked rice, beans, tortillas and eggs for them.

From La Prensa