Hurricane Eta inflicts floods, landslides in Nicaragua, three killed in aftermath

Tropical Storm Eta spun through northern Nicaragua Wednesday after lashing the country’s Caribbean coast for much of the past day, its floodwaters isolating already remote communities and setting off deadly landslides that killed at least three people.

The storm had weakened from the Category 4 hurricane that battered the coast, but it was moving so slowly and dumping so much rain that much of Central America was on high alert. Eta had sustained winds of 50 mph (80 kph) and was moving westward at 7 mph (11 kph).

The long-term forecast shows Eta taking a turn over Central America and then reforming in the Caribbean — possibly reaching Cuba on Sunday and Florida on Monday.

Eta came ashore Tuesday afternoon south of Bilwi after stalling just off the coast for hours. The city of about 60,000 had been without power since Monday evening. Corrugated metal roofing and uprooted trees were scattered through its streets. Some 20,000 of the area’s residents were in shelters.

Inland, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of where Eta made landfall, two gold miners were killed when a mountainside unleashed tons of mud Tuesday morning. A third miner escaped the slide and sought help.

One body was recovered before rescuers had to suspend recovery efforts due to nightfall and there were fears that more slides could occur as the rain continued, said Lt. Cesar Malespin of the Bonanza Fire Department. Bonanza was getting lashed by strong winds and torrential rain, he said.

The storm also has been drenching neighboring Honduras with rain since at least Sunday, and the country reported its first storm-related death on Tuesday. A 12-year-old girl died in a mudslide in San Pedro Sula, the main population center in northern Honduras, said Marvin Aparicio of Honduras’ emergency management agency.

In Honduras, at least 559 people had to move to shelters or go to relatives’ homes to escape flooding, he said. At least 25 people had been rescued, he said. His agency reported at least six rivers causing significant flooding.

The quantities of rain expected drew comparisons to 1998’s Hurricane Mitch, one of the most deadly Atlantic hurricanes in history. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Mitch led to the deaths of more than 9,000 people.

Eta has caused Honduras to cancel an extra-long weekend long weekend scheduled to begin Wednesday, which was supposed to spur tourism and help the economy strangled by the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, Eta promised to bring several more days of rain to the region.

[Sourced from Agencies]