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Intense wind, rain alerts for Nicaragua as Hurricane Eta looms over Caribbean coast

Mon 02 Nov 2020    
EcoBalance
| < 1 min read

Hurricane Eta continues to intensify as it churns in the Caribbean Sea toward Nicaragua, expected to bring devastating conditions with it, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Early Monday morning saw winds from Eta grow up to 75 mph. The storm is currently heading west towards Central America at 12 mph, according to an updated advisory from the NHC issued early Monday.

Eta is forecast to make landfall in Nicaragua late Monday into Tuesday as a possible Category 2 hurricane, with winds around 100 mph.

A hurricane warning is now in effect from the Honduras and Nicaragua border to Sandy Bay Sirpi, Nicaragua. Heavy rain will result in “catastrophic, life threatening flash flooding,” as well as landslides, dangerous storm surge and damaging wings, according to the center.

The rainfall is expected to come down at an estimate of 15 to 25 inches, and isolated amounts up to 35 inches in Nicaragua and Honduras. The rain will last well into the week.

Life-threatening storm surges along the Nicaraguan coastline will hit up to 15 feet above normal tide. Extremely strong winds will also impact areas from the coast towards the mountains.

“Flash flooding and river flooding would be possible across Jamaica, southeast Mexico, El Salvador, southern Haiti, and the Cayman Islands,” the NHC forecasted.

The track and intensity of the storm remains uncertain after Friday and will be closely monitored.

Eta is the 28th named storm of the active 2020 hurricane season and ties the record for the number of named storms in a single season set back in 2005. The storm has the potential to be one of the worst flooding events Nicaragua has seen since Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which killed more than 10,000 people.

[Sourced from Agencies]