Hurricane Iota Hits Nicaragua as Category 4 Storm

Hurricane Iota is now sweeping in Nicaragua as a Category 4 major hurricane. It made landfall near the town of Haulover at 10:40 PM EST at sustained winds of 155 miles per hour.

Hurricane Iota first made landfall of Category 5 in the Colombian Islands of San Andres and Providencia. This is the first time that a Category 5 Hurricane has reached their territory, Colombia President Ivan Duque said. San Andres and Providencia are part of Colombia for centuries but are located closer to Central America than the Colombian mainland.

Residents of Central America are advised that the storm will bring "catastrophic winds, life-threatening storm surge, and torrential rainfall."

READ: Hurricane Iota Now Category 2; May Devastate Central America

From Category 5 to Category 4 Storm

As of Monday, the Hurricane Iota Category 5 Duque reported one dead person on Providencia while 90 percent of the island's infrastructure has been affected. The local airport is also filled with debris that it is unusable as of this time.

The storm is headed west at about 9 miles per hour and is approximately 35 miles east-southeast of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua.

Iota was downgraded to Category 4 as it made landfall in Nicaragua. After landfall, Iota is expected to weaken and would likely dissipate in Central America on Wednesday.

Surrounding areas were also given Hurricane watches and tropical storm warnings as "Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion" is advised.

Iota is expected to bring major flooding and landslides.

Weather authorities said that rainfall accumulations throughout the region will be high as Honduras, northern Nicaragua, Guatemala, and southern Belize are expected to have eight to 16 inches of rainfall. In Northeast and northern Honduras, rainfall accumulation is expected to be 20 to 30 inches. While Costa Rica will have four to eight inches of rainfall, while 12 inches is also possible in some areas.

According to the advisory, the enormous amount of rainfall will "lead to significant, life-threatening flash flooding and river flooding, along with mudslides in areas of higher terrain."

Nicaragua and Honduras are predicted to have storm surge along the coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras with large and destructive waves and life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

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Places Reeling from Eta

Hurricane Iota is threatening many areas of Central America that were also deeply impacted and are still reeling from Hurricane Eta.

The location of Hurricane Iota's landfall is about 15 miles south of where Hurricane Eta made landfall on November 3.

On November 3, Category 4 Storm Hurricane Eta made landfall in Central America causing landslides and flooding. Eta caused the displacement of thousands and left scores of people dead or missing.

The storm-battered Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala for days as heavy rains caused massive landslides and flooding washing out entire communities from the map.

A landslide in a remote village of San Cristobal left dozens of people missing and 50 feet deep mud in some places.

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