Storm flood hits Americas coast

High seas hit long stretches of coastline

A storm surge driving in from the South Pacific has engulfed parts of the coastline of Central America.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said a Pacific storm had formed waves up to 4m (12ft) high.

The high seas were hitting thousands of kilometres of coastline, from south-west Mexico to Panama.

The Associated Press said at least 20 homes and a small hotel had been swept away in Guatemala and Nicaragua.

"The sea took away eight rooms and part of the restaurant, which was made of wood," Brigido de Paz, manager of a hotel frequented by surfers in Sipacate, 100km (60 miles) south-east of Guatemala City, told AP.

"The kitchen and the rooms that were made of concrete are flooded and damaged."

Homes destroyed

Nicaraguan media said 1.5km (one mile) of the coast of Jiquilillo, a popular beach destination, had been inundated.

In pictures: Storm surge

Nicaraguan authorities ordered 200 people to be evacuated, and deployed troops and rescue workers, as waves surged 100m inland, wiping out about 20 makeshift homes in Puerto Corinto, a civil defence official told AP.

The waves were whipped up by a "fairly strong winter cyclone in the southern hemisphere", Hugh Cobb of the National Hurricane Center told the BBC.

The waves drifted north, spreading out as they crossed the equator, and hitting any south-facing coastline between the beach resorts of Manzanillo and Acapulco in Mexico, and Panama.

"These swells - these long period waves - can travel thousands of miles," Mr Cobb said.

He said what Central Americans were experiencing on Tuesday was "probably the worst they're going to get - they should slowly decrease over the next 24 to 48 hours".