Hurricane Iota barreled into a Central America still recovering from Eta on Tuesday, bringing with it the possibility of life-threatening flooding, catastrophic winds and mudslides.
Swells from the storm will be felt from Central America to the Yucatán Peninsula, as far east as Jamaica and as far south as Colombia. Its landfall was just 15 miles south of where Hurricane Eta struck, potentially leaving the region scarred for generations.
The storm reached Category 5 strength and made landfall near the town of Haulover, Nicaragua, at 10:40 p.m. ET as a Category 4, with maximum sustained winds near 155 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. It weakened significantly upon making landfall.
Still packing winds of 85 mph as of 7 a.m. ET, the storm was in northern Nicaragua, having just passed through the small town of El Pía, the hurricane center said.
It will continue inland into Nicaragua on Tuesday morning and afternoon before moving into southern Honduras late Tuesday. Iota should dissipate by Wednesday night, the center said.