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Deadly Tropical Storm Pilar slowly unraveling after assault on Central America

Several landslides were reported across multiple cities in El Salvador. The floods also caused several walls and trees to collapse, and nearly two dozen homes were damaged. More than 215 families affected by the floods are being sheltered, authorities said.

By Chris Oberholtz , Hillary Andrews Source FOX Weather

Pilar moves west into Pacific Ocean as Invest 97L in Caribbean is unlikely to develop further

Tropical Storm Pilar is expected to weaken by Tuesday, and Invest 97L has a 20% chance of developing over the next 2 days. Nov. 4, 2023.

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – Deadly Tropical Storm Pilar is accelerating westward away from land after it battered Central America earlier this week.

The storm has been blamed for at least three deaths in El Salvador, according to officials, amid heavy rainfall and flash flooding. They said the victims included a 24-year-old man who was swept away by a current in La Unión, a 57-year-old woman who was also swept away in a ravine in La Unión and a 31-year-old man who was overtaken by storm surge while working in a reservoir in Nueva Granada, Usulután.

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A man wades through a flooded street after the passage of Tropical Storm Pilar in the hamlet of Los Angeles, in Zacatecoluca, El Salvador, on November 1, 2023. (MARVIN RECINOS/AFP)

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A woman lights a fire in an artisan kitchen at her flooded home after the passage of Tropical Storm Pilar in the hamlet of Los Angeles, in Zacatecoluca, El Salvador, on November 1, 2023.  (MARVIN RECINOS/AFP)

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A boy plays in the water during the red alert decreed by the government as Tropical Storm Pilar threatened to make landfall, in Jiquilisco, El Salvador, on October 31, 2023. (MARVIN RECINOS/AFP )

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View of the Lempa River during a red alert decreed by the government as Tropical Storm Pilar threatened to make landfall, in San Marcos Lempa, El Salvador, taken on October 31, 2023. (MARVIN RECINOS/AFP)

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A man rides on a bicycle under the rain during the red alert decreed by the government as Tropical Storm Pilar threatened to make landfall, in Jiquilisco, El Salvador, on October 31, 2023.  (MARVIN RECINOS/AFP)

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Two people cover themselves from the rain with umbrellas during the red alert decreed by the government as Tropical Storm Pilar threatened to make landfall, in Jiquilisco, El Salvador, on October 31, 2023.  (MARVIN RECINOS/AFP)

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Cows are guided along a road during a red alert decreed by the government as Tropical Storm Pilar threatened to make landfall, in Jiquilisco, El Salvador, on October 31, 2023.  (MARVIN RECINOS/AFP)

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A soldier guards an entry to the port of La Libertad during the onset of the Tropical Storm Pilar. (Camilo Freedman/SOPA Images/LightRocket)

According to the General Directorate of Civil Protection, several landslides were reported across multiple cities in El Salvador. The floods also caused several walls and trees to collapse, and nearly two dozen homes were damaged. 

More than 215 families affected by the floods are being sheltered, authorities said Wednesday.

Civil protection authorities said they were still monitoring two rivers, one in Cabañas and another in La Paz, which temporarily overflowed earlier this week as more rain is expected in the region.

Where is Pilar now?

Pilar is about 865 miles south of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula and is moving westward. Maximum sustained winds are 45 mph, and tropical-storm-force winds (39-plus mph) stretch out 60 miles.

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Pilar is the 16th named tropical cyclone during the Eastern Pacific's hurricane season, which runs until Nov. 30.