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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.
Heavy rainfall from the storm has pushed in, with Honduras and large portions of Nicaragua, Guatemala and Belize expecting at least 10 inches and up to 30 inches of rain through Thursday, while El Salvador to Panama can expect 4 to 8, with isolated maximums of 12 inches. River and flash flooding may soon follow, along with dangerous storm surge that is likely to bring water levels up by as much as 5 to 10 feet, the National Hurricane Center said in its 7 a.m. alert.
Near the Nicaraguan and Honduran coasts, “the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves,” the alert said.
Hurricane warnings are in effect for the coast of Nicaragua from its border with Honduras to Sandy Bay Sirpi, as well as the coast of northeastern Honduras, the NHC said.
Before reaching Nicaragua, the hurricane became the first of its strength to strike the Colombian Islands of San Andres and Providencia in recorded history, Colombia President Ivan Duque said Monday.
San Andres and Providencia have been part of Colombia for centuries but are geographically closer to Central America than to the Colombian mainland.
At least one person is dead on Providencia and 90% of the island’s infrastructure has been affected by Iota, Duque said. The local airport is also unusable because of debris.
“It’s the first time that a Category 5 hurricane has reached our territory since records began,” Duque said from Bogota. “We are facing an issue with characteristics never before witnessed by our country.”
Central America still recovering from Eta
Iota will be the second major hurricane to hit the area in as many weeks. On November 3, Hurricane Eta made landfall as a Category 4 storm, causing landslides and flooding that displaced thousands and left scores of people dead or missing.
It is the 13th hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, a historic season bringing 30 named storms — the most ever. This is the latest in the year there has ever been a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic Basin, according to the hurricane center.
More than 3.6 million people across Central America have been affected by the storm to varying degrees, the Red Cross said earlier this week.
While the full extent of the damage from Eta won’t be known for a while, the powerful storm, combined with the coronavirus pandemic, may have effects that last for years.
The storm hovered for days over Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala, with heavy rains creating flooding and landslides that wiped out entire communities.
Dozens of people in the remote Guatemalan village of San Cristobal remain missing after a landslide swept through last week, leaving mud 50 feet deep in some places.
