SINAPROC Director Warns Of Affects of Tropical Storm Matthew

(Panama-Guide) PANAMA (DPA) The director of the National System of Civil Protection in Panama (SINAPROC), Arturo Alvarado, confirmed an alert for the Caribbean areas of the country due to Tropical Storm Matthew, which strengthened near the coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras. Alvarado told local media on Friday that meteorologists are observing the phenomenon, which formed in the South-central Caribbean Sea (north of the coast of Panama), with maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour. As a result, the Centre for Monitoring, Meteorological Forecasting, and Management of Hydrometeorology of the Electricity Transmission Company (Etesa) issued a permanent monitoring of the storm until it no presents a danger in this country.

Alvarado said Panama is not in line with the hurricanes, but said that "Matthew" would cause heavy rains in the Caribbean provinces of Bocas del Toro, Colon and Veraguas. He added that storms in the Caribbean tend to suck the cloudiness in the Pacific coast and increased rainfall in the northern parts of the country. The Panamanian Civil Protection teams have been ordered to provide emergency assistance, faced with the possibility of overflowing rivers.

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Original Source: panama-guide.com
Date Retrieved: September 24, 2010.