Nov. 16 (UPI) — Hurricane Iota grew into a Category 5 storm on Monday as it nears the Central American coast, a region that has already been damaged by a hurricane this month.
The National Hurricane Center said in its 4 p.m. EST update that Iota was located about 55 miles east-southeast of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua and 100 miles south-southeast of Cabo Gracias a Dios on the Nicaragua/Honduras border. It had maximum sustained winds of 160 mph and was moving west at 9 mph.
A hurricane warning has been issued for parts of the coastline in Nicaragua and Honduras.
“On the forecast track, the core of Iota will make landfall within the hurricane warning area in northeastern Nicaragua tonight, and will dissipate over central America by Wednesday,” the NHC said in its advisory.
Besides Iota, the most recent major hurricane in the Atlantic was Hurricane Eta, which made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Nov. 3 in Nicaragua and was among the top five strongest storms to ever hit the nation.
Central America is still facing a humanitarian crisis following Eta’s deadly blow. Millions are enduring dangerous conditions in Eta’s wake — with concerns over waterborne diseases and COVID-19 complicating recovery. And the situation could become even more dire as Iota creeps toward the coast.
Iota is forecast to pick up some forward speed and continue to move west toward the border of Honduras and Nicaragua. Along the way, heavy rainfall will inundate northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela, as well as southern Jamaica.
Should Iota make landfall in Nicaragua as a hurricane, it would be only the second time in history the country would be hit by two hurricanes in one season. The last time it occurred was in 1971, with Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Edith.
In fact, this is the first time the NHC has ever gotten this far into the Greek alphabet during a tropical season.
Iota is the sixth major hurricane of the season. Five other major hurricanes churned in the Atlantic this season: Laura, Teddy, Delta, Epsilon and Eta.
This year set the record for the most tropical storms to be named in one Atlantic hurricane season as Theta became the 29th tropical storm of the season earlier this week.
