Rains have hit Honduras hard for the past week, as both Hurricane Ophelia and Tropical Storm Philippe passed along the Caribbean, bringing powerful storms to Honduras. Before yesterday, the number of victims from the extreme weather came to about 1,600.

Copeco has been warning citizens that the soils in and around the valley of Tegucigalpa are saturated, some by 80 percent, and extremely vulnerable to landslides. A number of houses have collapsed in the suburbs surrounding the capital, but local authorities had managed to evacuate persons living there in time.

Copeco reported today that five additional people have been killed in the flooding and landslides, hundreds of acres of crops lost, and 135 homes destroyed in Tegucigalpa alone.

Citizens are warned that the majority of damage was due to falling rocks and landslides, and to continue to exercise caution, as soil saturation is still extremely high, and more landslides are possible.

Officials reported that there has been “massive structural damage” in the capital area.