Officials launched a database recently which they dubbed as the Google of Central American weather." It's designed to predict natural disasters as the region grapples with devastating consequences due to climate change.

Technical director Norman Avila said the project will gather information from 150 stations in seven countries and has already accumulated decades of historical data. The shared information will pave the way for improved forecasts of hurricanes and other severe weather.

"Extreme hydrometeorological phenomena are the main threat to central America," said Patricia Ramirez, head of the Regional Water Resources Committee based in Costa Rica, the organization in charge of developing the database.

Launched with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank, the database aims to help the agricultural sector, which has been damaged by severe weather in recent years. "The challenge ofclimate change is how we prepare the region to better address this problem to reduce the risks," said El Salvador's Environmental Minister Herman Rosa Chavez.

During the past 40 years, natural disasters on the central American isthmus have left 57,000 people dead, 123,000 injured and 10 m displaced. Hurricane Mitch and other natural disasters between 1996 and 1999 alone cost $16 billion and caused a 1.3% reduction in regional GDP.