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Julia Weakens to a Tropical Depression After Passing El Salvador

The former hurricane left a trail of destruction through Central America. At least 28 people were killed, The Associated Press reported.

Bluefields, Nicaragua, after Hurricane Julia struck on Sunday. Julia later weakened to a tropical depression.Credit...Oswaldo Rivas/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Julia, once a powerful hurricane dissipated on Monday, leaving a trail of destruction through Central America and Mexico as its remnants continued to drench the region. At least 28 people were killed, The Associated Press reported, citing local authorities.

Julia, the fifth hurricane of this year’s Atlantic season, made landfall as a Category 1 storm early Sunday in Nicaragua, moving across the country before re-emerging along the Pacific Coast, drenching Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala as it moved north.

By late Monday, the system had been downgraded to a tropical depression as it moved along the coast of El Salvador, but not after bringing life-threatening flooding and the risk of landslides to the region.

Emergency workers in El Salvador were conducting rescues and clearing debris, a government deputy, Dania González, said on Twitter on Monday.

A dam in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, overflowed and the authorities recommended two markets be evacuated on Monday morning, according to local news accounts.

Julia formed 10 days after Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida. Ian barreled across the state as a powerful Category 4 storm, destroying neighborhoods and infrastructure, unleashing floods, wiping out power and killing at least 120 people, according to state and local officials.

After crossing Florida, Ian regained hurricane strength before making landfall in South Carolina. The storm followed a relatively quiet start to the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June through November. There were only three named storms before Sept. 1 and none in August, the first time that has happened since 1997.

The links between hurricanes and climate change have become clearer with each passing year. Data shows that hurricanes have become stronger worldwide during the past four decades.

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Damage left by Hurricane Julia on the Colombian island of San Andrés on Sunday.Credit...Daniel Parra/Associated Press

A warming planet can expect stronger hurricanes over time, and a higher incidence of the most powerful storms — though the overall number of storms could drop, because factors like stronger wind shear could keep weaker storms from forming.

Hurricanes are also becoming wetter because of more water vapor in the warmer atmosphere; scientists have suggested storms like Hurricane Harvey in 2017 produced far more rain than they would have without the human effects on climate. Also, rising sea levels are contributing to higher storm surge — the most destructive element of tropical cyclones.

Christine Hauser, Christine Chung, Mike Ives, McKenna Oxenden, April Rubin, Vimal Patel and Víctor Manuel Ramos contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 8 of the New York edition with the headline: Tropical Storm to Become Hurricane. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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