Iota nears Central America as category 5 hurricane

Hurricane Iota has strengthened into a category 5 storm that is likely to bring catastrophic damage to the same part of Central America already battered by a powerful Hurricane Eta less than two weeks ago.

Iota intensified over the western Caribbean on approach to Nicaragua and Honduras. 

US Air Force hurricane hunters flew into Iota's core and measured maximum sustained winds of 260 kilometres per hour, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. 

It was centered around 160 kilometres east-southeast of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, and moving westward at 15 kilometres per hour.

Iota will hit Central America, two weeks after powerful storm Eta devastated much of the region and left more than 200 people dead or missing.

The NHC forecast "potentially catastrophic winds, a life-threatening storm surge, and extreme rainfall" for Central America as Iota became the year's 13th hurricane.

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Evacuations under way

Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua announced evacuations last week, even as the region was still reeling from the devastation inflicted by Eta.

In the Nicaraguan coastal city of Bilwi, residents were desperately trying to secure the roofs of flimsy wooden homes with the same zinc sheets ripped off by Eta.

Many people were wrapping their belongings in plastic bags to protect them from the coming rains.

"We are worried, nervous. Psychologically we are not doing well, because losing our things and starting over is not easy. Some of us have old little houses and we risk losing everything," said Silvania Zamora.

Covid-19 fear 

Authorities have ordered people to leave the area, but many are refusing to leave out of fear of catching Covid-19.

"Some of us prefer to stay and die in our homes. There has never been a repeat hurricane in such a short time, but what can we do against the force of God and nature," Zamora said.

Eta's heavy rains burst river banks and triggered landslides as far north as Chiapas, Mexico.

Initial estimates show "some 80,000 families are going to be at risk," said Guillermo Gonzalez, head of Nicaragua's disaster response agency Sinapred.

Evacuations were under way in communities along the border with Honduras, he said.

Authorities on Friday sent boats to evacuate the community in Cabo Gracias a Dios, where the Coco River flows into the Caribbean along the "Mosquito Coast."

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'Life-threatening' flash predicted

The NHC warned that Iota would deposit as much as 40 centimetres of rain on Honduras, northern Nicaragua, Guatemala, and southern Belize, with isolated totals of up to 75 centimeters.

"This rainfall would lead to significant, life-threatening flash flooding and river flooding, along with mudslides in areas of higher terrain," it said.

Authorities in Honduras on Friday ordered police and the army to evacuate the area of San Pedro Sula, the country's second city and industrial capital, located 177 kilometers north of Tegucigalpa.

Eta hit that area hard: About 40,000 people are still in shelters across the country.

The government also ordered water released from Honduras's main hydroelectric dam, due to the danger of it overflowing from Iota's rains.

Guatemala's disaster management agency CONRED, meanwhile, called on residents in the north and northeast to voluntarily evacuate.

Climate crisis making hurricanes stronger

Eta hit the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua as a Category Four storm, one of the strongest November storms ever recorded.

Warmer seas caused by climate crisis are making hurricanes stronger for longer after landfall, scientists say.

This year's hurricane season has seen a record 30 named tropical storms across the Caribbean, Central America, and the southeastern US.

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