Tropical Storm Sara nears landfall in Belize after drenching Honduras

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (AP) — Tropical Storm Sara on Sunday neared landfall in Belize, where forecasters expect heavy rain to cause life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides.

The storm's centre was expected to make landfall in Belize in the late morning or around midday, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center. This comes after Sara drenched the northern coast of Honduras, where it stalled since Friday, swelling rivers and trapping some people at home.

The Hurricane Center's tropical storm warning as of Sunday included Honduras' Bay Islands as well as the country's northern coast from Punta Castilla to its border with Guatemala; the Caribbean coast of Guatemala; Belize's coast and northward into the coast of Mexico's state of Quintana Roo, from Chetumal to Puerto Costa Maya.

The storm could drop up to 10 inches (25 cm) of rain across the area, with localised totals reaching 15 inches (38 cm), through early next week. The conditions "will result in areas of flash flooding, perhaps significant, along with the potential of mudslides," according to the Hurricane Center.

"A storm surge could raise water levels by as much as one to three feet above ground level near and to the north of where the centre of Sara crosses the coast of Belize," the center said Sunday. "Near the coast, the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves."

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