Panama City, Dec 9 (DPA) Days of heavy rain prompted the Panama Canal authority to shut down the short-cut ship passage that connects the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean and Atlantic oceans.
Officials Wednesday said visibility was too limited to manoeuvre ships through the locks.
Catastrophic downpours have flooded the entire region between Venezuela and Costa Rica for weeks and months. Colombia has declared a state of emergency after months of heavy rains claimed at least 218 lives.
The heavy rain is blamed on the weather phenomenon La Nina that revisits the region every so often. Cold water from the Pacific Ocean's depths surges to the surface, causing drought in some areas of the region while dumping excessive rain on others.
The downpours in Colombia could last into the new year, meteorologists said.