TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Hundreds of families have been evacuated to shelters in Honduras as heavy rains from Tropical Storm Michael drench the Central American country on its way to the Florida Panhandle.

The Permanent Commission of Contingencies said Sunday that at least 260 homes have been damaged, mostly in southern Honduras, and that more than 6,000 people have been impacted by the rains. School was cancelled nationwide Monday.

Images on social media showed families wading through thigh-high water, rivers rushing onto streets and roads to communities cut off by mudslides. Local media reported several deaths. Homes in Honduras that are built close to waterways or wedged precariously on hillsides are vulnerable to being washed away by rain. </s> TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) - Hundreds of families have been evacuated to shelters in Honduras as heavy rains from Tropical Storm Michael drench the Central American country on its way to the Florida Panhandle.

The Permanent Commission of Contingencies said Sunday that at least 260 homes have been damaged, mostly in southern Honduras, and that more than 6,000 people have been impacted by the rains. School was canceled nationwide Monday.

Images on social media showed families wading through thigh-high water, rivers rushing onto streets and roads to communities cut off by mudslides. Local media reported several deaths. Homes in Honduras that are built close to waterways or wedged precariously on hillsides are vulnerable to being washed away by rain. </s> TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Hundreds of families have been evacuated to shelters in Honduras as heavy rains from Tropical Storm Michael drench the Central American country on its way to the Florida Panhandle.

The Permanent Commission of Contingencies said Sunday that at least 260 homes have been damaged, mostly in southern Honduras, and that more than 6,000 people have been impacted by the rains. School was canceled nationwide Monday.

Images on social media showed families wading through thigh-high water, rivers rushing onto streets and roads to communities cut off by mudslides. Local media reported several deaths. Homes in Honduras that are built close to waterways or wedged precariously on hillsides are vulnerable to being washed away by rain. </s> TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Hundreds of families have been evacuated to shelters in Honduras as heavy rains from Tropical Storm Michael drench the Central American country on its way to the Florida Panhandle. The Permanent…

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Hundreds of families have been evacuated to shelters in Honduras as heavy rains from Tropical Storm Michael drench the Central American country on its way to the Florida Panhandle.

The Permanent Commission of Contingencies said Sunday that at least 260 homes have been damaged, mostly in southern Honduras, and that more than 6,000 people have been impacted by the rains. School was canceled nationwide Monday.

Images on social media showed families wading through thigh-high water, rivers rushing onto streets and roads to communities cut off by mudslides. Local media reported several deaths. Homes in Honduras that are built close to waterways or wedged precariously on hillsides are vulnerable to being washed away by rain.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. </s> Otto slammed into the coast of Central America near the border of Nicaragua and Costa Rica earlier on Thursday, dumping torrential rains on the region and prompting thousands of people to be evacuated.

"I regret to inform (you) ... that there are people dead and missing," Solis told a news conference, adding it was too early to say how many people had died. </s> related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery.

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More than a thousand people were still missing on Wednesday a week after Hurricane Michael flattened communities across the Florida Panhandle, killing at least 27.

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla.: More than a thousand people were still missing on Wednesday a week after Hurricane Michael flattened communities across the Florida Panhandle, killing at least 27.

Teams made up of hundreds of volunteers with the Houston-based CrowdSource Rescue organization were searching for more than 1,135 people in Florida who lost contact with friends and family, Matthew Marchetti, co-founder of Houston-based CrowdSource Rescue.

Most of those missing are from Panama City and many are elderly, disabled, impoverished, or live alone, Marchetti said.

Florida officials have not given a number for how many people are considered to be missing. Those who are missing may be with relatives and friends, and not necessarily presumed dead.

Debris, downed trees and power lines have hampered access to stranded people, but CrowdSource said a number of its missing person reports resulted from widespread phone and power outages.

The death toll includes 17 in Florida, one in Georgia, three in North Carolina and six in Virginia, according to a Reuters tally of official reports. Officials said medical examiners were determining whether another four deaths in Florida were due to the storm.

Michael slammed into the northwest coastal strip of Florida last Wednesday with top sustained winds of 155 miles per hour (250 km/h), unleashing a surge of seawater that demolished homes.

About 35,000 Floridians have called Federal Emergency Management Agency seeking help since and the agency has already approved US$1 million in assistance for people in those 12 counties, spokesman Ruben Brown in Tallahassee said.

FEMA has distributed about 4.5 million meals, more than 5 million litres of water and 9 million infant-and-toddler kits, he said.

In Mexico Beach, which took a direct hit, the number of people missing dropped to three on Tuesday, said Rex Putnal, a city councillor. A day earlier, it was more than 30. The town of 1,200 residents had reported two fatalities as of Monday.

Nearly 163,000 homes and businesses remained without power in the U.S. Southeast, with residents of battered coastal towns forced to cook on fires and barbecue grills.

At least 80 percent of customers in three mainly rural Panhandle counties were without electricity on Tuesday. Officials said it could be weeks before power returns to some.

Countless others in the region's backcountry have struggled for days without running water or sanitation, awaiting help from authorities. Some have been camping in tents with the belongings they were able to salvage.

The state government is distributing ice, water and about 3 million ready-to-eat meals, Governor Rick Scott's office said.

Marchetti said the search has been hindered by spotty cell phone coverage in the devastated area, though authorities are making progress in restoring communications.

Many residents have also expressed frustration at the slow pace of recovery of wireless networks. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Tuesday called for wireless carriers to waive bills for customers affected by the storm. </s> A woman walks in front of houses destroyed by a landslip after Hurricane Otto hit in Guayabo de Bagaces in Costa Rica on November 25, 2016. The devastation killed 9 people in the Central American country.

After the tropical storm made landfall as the southern most hurricane to Central America.

Tropical Storm Otto killed at least nine people in Costa Rica and then headed into the Pacific Ocean after making landfall as the southernmost hurricane on record to hit Central America.

Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis announced that nine people had been killed in the area of Bagaces and Upala, a town south of the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border. Earlier, he said at least six people were missing in the nearby town of Bijagua.

Mr. Solis said as much water fell on the area in a few hours as normally falls in a month, and said some people had been trapped by rising waters.

The United States sent airplanes and neighbouring Panama sent planes and helicopters to aid in the search and rescue efforts in the area, where rain-swollen rivers overflowed their banks.

Otto made landfall on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast on Thursday as a dangerous Category 2 storm but it faded to tropical storm force before emerging over the eastern Pacific early on Friday.

Authorities in Nicaragua said the hurricane had damaged houses, but so far there were no reports of casualties.

Earlier, heavy rains from the storm were blamed for three deaths in Panama.

Otto battered Nicaragua’s Corn Islands with 3.5-meter (10-foot) waves and damaged houses, but residents were all safe in refuges, said the archipelago’s mayor, Cleveland Rolando Webster.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that by Friday morning, the storm was centred about 395 kilometres south-southeast of El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador, and had maximum sustained winds of 95 kph.

It was moving toward the west at 26 kph. It was projected to keep moving westward away from Central America, further into Pacific.

The Nicaraguan government earlier declared a state of emergency, but later reported there were no deaths directly related to the hurricane. About 400 homes in Nicaragua were damaged or destroyed.

Mr. Solis said Otto could damage the country’s important coffee and agriculture sectors. Nicaragua also feared damage to coffee crops that are almost ready for harvest. </s> SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – Tropical Storm Otto killed at least nine people in Costa Rica and then headed into the Pacific Ocean Friday after making landfall as the southernmost hurricane on record to hit Central America.

Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis announced that nine people had been killed in the area of Bagaces and Upala, a town south of the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border. Earlier, he said at least six people were missing in the nearby town of Bijagua.

Solis said as much water fell on the area in a few hours as normally falls in a month, and said some people had been trapped by rising waters.

The United States sent airplanes and neighboring Panama sent planes and helicopters to aid in the search and rescue efforts in the area, where rain-swollen rivers overflowed their banks.

Otto made landfall on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast on Thursday as a dangerous Category 2 storm but it faded to tropical storm force before emerging over the eastern Pacific early Friday.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that by Friday morning, the storm was centered about 245 miles south-southeast of San Salvador, and had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph. It was moving toward the west at 16 mph. It was projected to keep moving westward away from Central America, further into Pacific. </s> Disaster officials say heavy rains have caused a landslide in southwestern Colombia in which at least 14 people have died.

Colombia's national disaster agency says in a statement that the Easter Sunday landslide in the municipality of Rosas hit at least eight homes and blocked a stretch of the Pan-American Highway.

President Ivan Duque sent a tweet expressing "solidarity with families of victims."
Six people in Honduras, four in Nicaragua and three in El Salvador died after heavy floods triggered by Hurricane Michael affected Central America. Several others are injured and at least one is missing.