Weakened Eta lashes Central America, may aim at Cuba, Florida

Tropical Storm Eta spun through northern Nicaragua on 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 45 mph and was moving westward at 7 mph.

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

Eta was located Wednesday morning 125 miles north-northeast of Managua, Nicaragua’s capital.

Eta came ashore Tuesday 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 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-yearold 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 find shelter to escape flooding, he said. At least 25 people had been rescued, he said, and at least six rivers were causing significant flooding.

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 also were likely in eastern Guatemala, southern Belize and Jamaica.

CARLOS HERRERA/AP A man fixes the roof of a home in by floodwaters brought on by Hurricane Eta in Wawa, Nicaragua, on Tuesday. Rains from what was a Category 4 storm at its peak were causing rivers to overflow across Central America.