El Salvador was badly hit by Hurricane Ida this weekend. The interior ministry has confirmed that 91 people have died and that the final death toll could be higher.

Most deaths occurred as a result of mudslides caused by the heavy rainfall which accompanied the storm. At least 60 people in El Salvdor are missing.

Ida has now moved away from El Salvador towards the Gulf of Mexico. Residents of coastal areas in the region are being moved to shelters. However, foreign tourists in the popular Mexican resorts of Cancun and Playa del Carmen have not yet been evacuated.

Ida has grown to a category two hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with wind speeds of up to 152 kilometres per hour. It is forecast that the storm will now gradually lose its strength.
 

photos: Hurricane Ida in Cancun, Mexico (flickr.com/leobardomartinez) and in Nicaragua (EPA)