Tropical storm Harvey hit the coast of Central America on Saturday, lashing Belize with strong winds and rain and threatening to dump more on sugar- and coffee-producing areas in the region.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Harvey would probably weaken as it moved inland but could still strafe Honduras and Guatemala with storm-force winds and rain.

Hurricane forecasters were also closely watching a large tropical wave, located 250 miles east of the Caribbean's Lesser Antilles, which was moving westward fast.

The Belize government has given a nod to the construction of the controversial Chalillo Dam. The massive hydroelectric dam in a jungle valley has invited the ire of environmentalists as it would

a large tract of central America's remaining rainforest is under threat from a road in the remote south of Belize. The construction of the road might lead to the clearing of the entire forest