Hurricane Eta slams Nicaragua, grinds inland with heavy rainfall
MANAGUA, Nicaragua — The heart of powerful Hurricane Eta moved ashore Tuesday in Nicaragua with devastating winds and rains that destroyed rooftops and caused rivers to overflow.
The hurricane had sustained winds of 110mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, down from an overnight peak of 150 mph. Even before it made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, Honduras reported the first death after amudslide trapped a 12-yearold girl in San Pedro Sula.
Tuesday afternoon, the strong Category 2 hurricane crawled inland from the coast, about 25 miles southwest of coastal Puerto Cabezas or Bilwi, and it was moving west near 5 mph.
Landfall camehours after it had been expected. Eta’s eye had hovered just offshore through the night and Tuesday morning. The unceasing winds uprooted trees and ripped roofs apart, scattering corrugated metal through the streets of Bilwi, the main coastal city in the region. The city’s regional hospital abandoned its building, moving patients to a local technical school campus.
“It was an intense night for everyone in Bilwi, Waspam and the communities along the northern coast,” Yamil Zapata, local Bilwi representative of the ruling Sandinista Front, told local Channel 4 on Tuesday.
GuillermoGonzalez, director of the country’s emergency management agency, said there were no reported injuries or deaths so far.
This could be only the beginning of Eta’s destruction. The stormwas forecast to spendmuch of theweekmeandering over Central America.
Forecasters said central and northern Nicaragua and much of Honduras could get 15 to 25 inches of rain, with 35 inches in isolated areas. Heavy rains alsowere likely in eastern Guatemala, southern Belize and Jamaica.
A storm surge of around 15 feet above normal tides was possible for the coast of Nicaragua, forecasters said.
Storm models predict Eta to crawl across the Central America throughout the week before turning west and re-entering the Caribbean toward Cuba and possibly Florida. Although hurricane specialists are not certain of this outcome yet.
Eta tripled in strength in about 24 hours, rapidly intensifying from a 40 mph storm Sunday morning to a 120 mph hurricane around midday Monday, and continued to gain power throughout the day. It is the 28th namedAtlantic storm this season, tying the 2005 record for named storms.