Eta slams Nicaragua as Cat. 4 hurricane
Storm expected to bring feet of rain to Central America
Hurricane Eta was moving ashore along the northeastern coast of Nicaragua on Tuesday as an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 hurricane.
The storm is expected to bring “lifethreatening storm surge, catastrophic winds, flash flooding and landslides across portions of Central America” this week, the National Hurricane Center said. Landfall was forecast to occur sometime Tuesday.
Heavy rain from Eta’s outer bands were already causing rivers to overflow across Central America.
As of 1 p.m. EST Tuesday, the center of Hurricane Eta was about 20 miles south-southeast of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, the Hurricane Center said.
The storm strengthened rapidly Monday, with winds at one point hitting 150 mph.
Tuesday afternoon, maximum sustained winds were near 140 mph, with higher gusts. Little change in strength was likely as the storm made landfall. Weakening was expected begin after the center moved inland later Tuesday. Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 25 miles from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 125 miles.
Early Tuesday, Guillermo González, director of the Nicaragua’s emergency management agency, said in a news conference that as Eta began to make landfall, there were reports of corrugated metal roofs flying off homes; trees, poles and power lines falling; and rivers rising in the coastal area.
There were no reported injuries or deaths so far, he said.
The storm was nearing landfall just south of Bilwi, the main coastal city in the region. About 10,000 people were in shelters in that city, and an equal number were sheltered in smaller towns across the region, he said. The area had already been lashed with strong winds and heavy rain for hours.
Authorities in Nicaragua and Honduras had moved people Monday from outer islands and low-lying areas to shelters. Residents scrambled to shore up their homes, but few structures along Nicaragua’s remote Caribbean coast were built to withstand such force.
At a shelter in Bilwi, farmer Pedro Down waited late Monday for Eta’s arrival.
“When it comes, it can rip off all the (roof) and destroy the house, so you have to look for a safer place,” he said, cradling a baby in his arms. “So I came here to save our lives.”
Along Honduras’ northern Caribbean coast, torrential rains from Eta’s outer bands caused some rivers to overwhelm their banks Monday.
This could be only the beginning of Eta’s destruction. The storm was forecast to spend the week meandering over Central America dumping rain measured in feet, not inches.
Forecasters said central and northern Nicaragua into much of Honduras could get 15 to 25 inches of rain.
Contributing: Associated Press