Tropical Storm Nate’s death toll hits 22 in Central America

MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Newly formed Tropical Storm Nate was blamed Thursday for at least 22 deaths across Central America as it dumped rain across the region on a path that would carry it toward a potential landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast as a hurricane over the weekend.

Louisiana officials ordered some people there to evacuate as the U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm could cause dangerous flooding by dumping as much as 20 inches of rain on Nicaragua, with higher accumulations in a few places.

It had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph at midday Thursday and was likely to strengthen over the northwestern Caribbean Sea on Thursday night and Friday before a possible strike on the Cancun region at the tip of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

In Nicaragua, Nate’s arrival followed two weeks of near-constant rain that had left the ground saturated and rivers swollen. Authorities placed the whole country on alert and warned of flooding and landslides.

Nicaragua’s vice president, Rosario Murillo, said that at least 15 people had died in that country due to the storm. The government closed schools nationwide.

Costa Rica’s President Luis Guillermo Solis blamed two deaths in that country on the storm. Flooding drove 5,000 residents into emergency shelters.

In Louisiana, officials ordered the evacuation of part of coastal St. Bernard Parish east of New Orleans ahead of the storm. Earlier Thursday, a voluntary evacuation was called in the barrier island town of Grand Isle south of New Orleans.

New Orleans officials outlined steps to bolster the city’s pump and drainage system. Weaknesses in that system were revealed during summer flash floods.