Overall Green alert Tropical Cyclone for SARA-24
in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, Belize

Event summary

Tropical Cyclone SARA-24 can have a low humanitarian impact based on the maximum sustained wind speed, exposed population and vulnerability.

GDACS ID TC 1001127
Name SARA-24
Glide number: TC-2024-000211-HND
From - To 13 Nov - 18 Nov
Exposed countries Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, Belize
Exposed population No people in Category 1 or higher
Maximum wind speed 83 km/h Tropical storm
Maximum storm surge 0.8 m (17 Nov 02:00 UTC)
Vulnerability High (Guatemala)

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.
Wind Storm surge Rainfall GDACS score
GDACS NOAA 83 km/h 0.8 m n.a. 0.5
Single TC: maximum expected impact (wind, storm surge, rainfall)
HWRF 90 km/h 0.8 m 1790 mm 0.5
GFS 112 km/h 0.8 m 819 mm 0.5
ECMWF 68 km/h 0.8 m 953 mm 0.5
Maximum expected impact (wind, storm surge and rainfall) using different data sources.
Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador - Tropical storm SARA (ECHO 20 Nov 2024)Fri, 15 Nov 2024 11:55

  • A new tropical storm named SARA which formed in the Caribbean Sea on 13 November, moved towards central America and made landfall in an area very close to Barra Patuca and Brus Laguna in north-eastern Honduras  between the night of 14  November and the early morning of 15 November. On 15 November at 6.00 UTC, its centre was located inland, approximately 135 km east-southeast Isla Guanaja (Honduras) with maximum sustained winds of 75 km/h (tropical storm) with higher gusts.
  • SARA will continue close to the northern coast of Honduras through early 16 November, then it will approach the coast of Belize on 17 November as a tropical storm. 
  • For the next 72 hours, heavy rainfall and strong winds are expected particularly over northern Honduras and eastern Belize but also across eastern Guatemala, western Nicaragua, El Salvador and the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. 
  • A tropical storm warning is in effect for the northern coast of Honduras.
SARA-24 - UNITAR-UNOSAT ActivationFri, 15 Nov 2024 15:01

UNITAR-UNOSAT Potentially Damaged Buildings has been activated
SARA-24 - Copernicus EMS activationSun, 17 Nov 2024 04:40

[EMSR778] Tropical Storm Sara in Honduras
Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador - Tropical cyclone SARA, update (ECHO 23 Nov 2024)Mon, 18 Nov 2024 11:47

  • Tropical cyclone SARA approached the northern coast of Honduras on 15 November and on 17 November, made landfall north of Dangriga town, eastern Belize, bringing heavy rainfall and strong winds. After that, it crossed central Belize, north-eastern Guatemala and south-eastern Mexico, and on 18 November at 3.00 UTC, its centre was located inland in south-eastern Mexico, approximately 36 km east-southeast of Candelaria Municipality, Campeche state with maximum sustained winds of 46 km/h (tropical depression). 
  • Following its influence across north-eastern Central America, the IFRC Disaster Response and Preparedness reports three missing people and 20,000 affected in Honduras, 123,276 affected people in Belize, and almost 8,000 affected people in Guatemala. 
  • SARA is forecast to move north-west and reach the southern Gulf of Mexico, weakening and dissipating on 18 November. For the next 24 hours, moderate to locally heavy rainfall is forecast over Belize, El Salvador, eastern Guatemala, western Nicaragua and the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. 
  • The Copernicus Emergency Management Service (EMS) was activated in rapid mapping mode, (EMSR778) for Honduras and (EMSR777) for Belize.
SARA-24 - UNITAR-UNOSAT ActivationMon, 18 Nov 2024 13:27

UNITAR-UNOSAT Potentially Damaged Buildings has been activated
SARA-24 - EC/ECHO daily mapMon, 18 Nov 2024 17:17

A new EC/ECHO daily map is now available
SARA-24 - Copernicus EMS activationMon, 18 Nov 2024 09:46

[EMSR777] Tropical Storm Sara in Belize
Central America - Tropical storm SARA, update (ECHO 24 Nov 2024)Tue, 19 Nov 2024 11:12

  • Tropical Storm SARA dissipated over the southern Gulf of Mexico after it made landfall on 14 November close to the Honduras-Nicaragua border and crossed Belize and south-eastern Mexico on 17-18 November. In the meantime, ongoing rain continue to affect parts of Central America.
  • According to UN OCHA, in Honduras, two people died, more than 6,700 people have been sheltered and 127,716 people affected. In Costa Rica, five people died, five are missing and 3,418 others have been displaced. In Guatemala, more than 350 people have been displaced, and 50,240 affected. In Belize, more than 123,000 people have been affected and at least 162 people have been sheltered. In El Salvador, 30 people have been evacuated and 2,500 affected.
  • The Copernicus Emergency Management Service (EMS) was activated in rapid mapping mode for Honduras () and for Belize (), a total of 7 maps have been produced so far.
  • On 19-20 November, moderate to locally heavy rainfall is expected over most of Central America, particularly over the southern and western countries and over south-eastern Mexico. 
SARA-24 - Copernicus EMS activationWed, 20 Nov 2024 10:45

[EMSR778] Tropical Storm Sara in Honduras
SARA-24 - Copernicus EMS activationThu, 21 Nov 2024 01:10

[EMSR777] Tropical Storm Sara in Belize
SARA-24 - Copernicus EMS activationSat, 23 Nov 2024 01:41

[EMSR778] Tropical Storm Sara in Honduras
SARA-24 - Copernicus EMS activationFri, 22 Nov 2024 23:45

[EMSR778] Tropical Storm Sara in Honduras
SARA-24 - Copernicus EMS activationSun, 24 Nov 2024 04:35

[EMSR777] Tropical Storm Sara in Belize
Detailed event map. European Union, 2025. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

Updates on volcanic activity (Smithsonian)

Latest media headlines

Mid Latitude Cyclone during mid week 11/16/2024 11:58:00 PM.

SATURDAY EVENING. Average temperatures for this time of year range in the high 70s during the day and the 50s in the evening. Saturday night temperatures will drop into the mid-50s before midnight Sunday with mostly clear skies and no chanc
...(more)
Flash floods and mudslides threat as tropical storm drenches Honduras 11/16/2024 5:32:00 PM.

TROPICAL STORM SARA stalled over Honduras today, drenching the northern coast of the Central American nation and swelling rivers. The area could see life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides through the weekend, according to the Miami-b
...(more)
ADVISORY NO. 1 TROPICAL STORM SARA 11/14/2024 10:06:00 PM.

At 3 pm local time, tropical storm Sara was located near latitude 15.9N, longitude 83.5W, or about 330 miles east by south of Belize City. Sara was moving to the west at 10 mph with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. A westward motion at a
...(more)

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Estimated casualties (PAGER)

USGS estimates the number of casualties for each earthquake for the Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) product.
The graph shows the current fatalities estimate.

Exposed population

Data, images, links, services and documents

For this events, GDACS has links to information from the following sources: EC-JRC (40), (2), DesInventar (1), WMO (1), INFORM (2),