Tropical Storm Sara as it crept closer to the coast of Honduras and Belize is expected to cause life-threatening flooding and mudslides in Central America this week.

Sara has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph as of early Friday morning, and further strengthening is possible in the coming days if the storm center largely stays offshore from Hon

A system over the western Caribbean Sea developed into Tropical Storm Sara on Thursday afternoon, and it is forecast to bring storm conditions to Central America and the Yucatán Peninsula. There remain signs that the storm could enter the Gulf of Mexico,