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(CNN) – Hurricane Iota has moved to an area of Central America that is still recovering from Eta and brings with it the possibility of “life-threatening” floods, catastrophic winds and landslides.
The storm will be felt from Central America to the Yucatan Peninsula, Jamaica to the east and Colombia to the south, but its landing place was just 15 miles south of where Hurricane Eta hit, which could leave the region. marked by generations.
The hurricane reached Category 5 force, but landed near the city of Haulover, Nicaragua, at 10:40 PM Miami time, as Category 4, with maximum sustained winds near 250 km / h, according to the Center. National Hurricane Hurricane (NHC). It has since weakened with winds approaching 165 km / h.
Heavy rain from Hurricane Iota
Those in the area began to feel the heavy rains from the storm. Honduras and Nicaragua expect a total maximum of 76.2 centimeters of rain until Thursday, while from El Salvador to Panama they can expect 15 to 25 centimeters, with maximum blocks of 38.1 centimeters. The river and flash floods could soon follow along with a dangerous storm surge that could raise water levels by as much as 10 to 15 feet, the NHC said in a 1am warning.
The storm surge expected along the Nicaraguan and Honduras coasts will be accompanied by “large and destructive waves”, along with floods that cause “life-threatening waves and disrupt current conditions,” according to the warning.
Hurricane warnings are in effect for the Nicaraguan coast from the Honduran border to Sandy Bay Sirpi, as well as the northeastern coast of Honduras, the NHC said. There are also tropical storm warnings for Providencia, San Andreas and the Bay Islands.
Although the hurricane hit Central America with a devastating impact, it was expected to weaken after landing and then dissipate in the region on Wednesday night.
The Colombian islands suffer the first impacts
Before reaching Nicaragua, the hurricane became the first of its force to hit the Colombian islands of San Andrés and Providencia in recorded history, Colombian President Iván Duque said Monday.
San Andrés and Providencia have been part of Colombia for centuries but are geographically closer to Central America than to the Colombian mainland.
Duque said Monday that at least one person died in Providencia and that Iota affected 90% of the island’s infrastructure. The local airport is also unusable due to debris, Duque said.
“This is the first time that a Category 5 hurricane has hit our territory since the record-breaking start,” Duque said during a national press conference from Bogotá, the country’s capital. “We are facing a problem with characteristics that our country has never seen before”.
A Navy ship was expected to leave Cartagena on Monday night for Providencia with supplies, Duque said.
Central America is still recovering from Eta
Iota is the second major hurricane to hit the area in two weeks. On November 3, Hurricane Eta landed as Category 4, causing landslides and floods that left thousands displaced and dozens of people dead or missing.
Iota is the thirteenth hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, making history with 30 named storms, the most on record. This is the last of the year a Category 5 hurricane occurred in the Atlantic Basin, according to the Hurricane Center.
More than 3.6 million people in Central America have been affected by Iota to varying degrees, the Red Cross said earlier this week.
While the full extent of Eta’s damage will not be known for a while, the powerful hurricane, combined with the coronavirus pandemic, can have effects that last for years.
Like a storm, Eta flew over Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala for days, with heavy rains that caused floods and landslides that wiped entire communities off the map.
Dozens of people in the remote Guatemalan town of San Cristóbal are missing after a landslide swept away last week.
Hollie Silverman, Gene Norman, and CNN’s Robert Shackelford contributed to this report.
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