Overview

• Tropical Storm Pilar has resulted in at least two deaths in El Salvador due to heavy flooding and dangerous conditions.
• The storm is approaching hurricane strength, with sustained winds of 60 mph predicted to produce 5 to 15 inches of rainfall across parts of Central America.
• The Salvadoran government has declared a state of emergency and suspended classes nationwide; evacuation shelters have been prepared.
• The victims of the storm, a 24-year-old man and a 57-year-old woman, were swept away by swollen streams in the province of La Union.
• The storm, predicted to shift west into the Pacific Ocean, still poses a severe threat to the Pacific coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras with possible flooding and mudslides at higher elevations.