Hurricane Slams Into Central America

Hurricane Adrian slammed into El Salvador with 80-mph winds late Thursday, cutting off power and unleashing heavy rains in an area prone to severe flooding.

About 14,000 people were evacuated ahead of the storm, the first Pacific hurricane on record to strike El Salvador.

The country’s National Service for Territorial Studies said the hurricane hit near the port of Acajutla, about 45 miles west of the capital, San Salvador.

The region, where many people live in shacks on steep ravines, is particularly vulnerable to flooding and landslides.

In Puerto La Libertad, down the coast from Acajutla, streets were deserted as rains sprayed across an agitated surf and waves pounded the pier.

“The electricity has gone out, the wind is getting stronger, and it’s raining nonstop,” Jorge Alberto Turcios, a guard at a La Libertad restaurant, said by telephone.

El Salvador and neighboring Guatemala had declared emergencies as Hurricane Adrian approached.

Salvadoran President Tony Saca appealed to citizens to obey the evacuation requests. “We understand that they are guarding their belongings, but lives are worth more than anything,” he told Radio La Chevere.

At least three deaths were blamed on the storm.

In Guatemala, two men were killed and two were injured when a mudslide swallowed workers digging a ditch near the Mexican border, officials said Thursday.

A military pilot died Wednesday in the crash of a small plane he was ferrying from the civilian airport in San Salvador to a base as a precaution against the storm.

The Guatemalan government sent supplies to vulnerable areas near the Salvadoran border.

“We are preparing for the worst,” President Ricardo Maduro said.