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(CNN) – Hurricane Iota has moved into an area of Central America that is still recovering from Eta and carries with it the possibility of “life-threatening” floods, catastrophic winds and landslides.
The storm surge will be felt from Central America to the Yucatan Peninsula, to Jamaica in the east and to Colombia in the south, but its landfall was just 15 miles south of where Hurricane Eta struck, which could leave the region marked by generations.
The hurricane reached Category 5 strength, but made landfall near the city of Haulover, Nicaragua, at 10:40 pm Miami time, as Category 4, with maximum sustained winds near 250 km / h, according to the Center. National Hurricane Hurricane (NHC). Since then it has weakened at winds close to 165 km / h.
Heavy rains from Hurricane Iota
Those in the area have begun to feel the heavy rains from the storm. Honduras and Nicaragua expect maximum totals of 76.2 centimeters of rain through Thursday, while from El Salvador to Panama they can expect 15 to 25 centimeters, with isolated highs of 15 inches. River and flash flooding could follow soon along with a dangerous storm surge likely to raise water levels as high as 10 to 15 feet, the NHC said in an alert at 1 a.m.
The storm surge forecast along the coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras will be accompanied by “large and destructive waves,” along with floodwaters causing “life-threatening waves and rip current conditions,” according to the advisory.
Hurricane warnings are in effect for the Nicaraguan coast from its border with Honduras to Sandy Bay Sirpi, as well as the northeast coast of Honduras, the NHC said. There are also tropical storm warnings for Providencia, San Andreas, and the Bay Islands.
Although the hurricane hit Central America with devastating impact, it was expected to weaken after making landfall and then dissipate in the region on Wednesday night.
Colombian islands feel the first impacts
Before reaching Nicaragua, the hurricane became the first of its force to hit the Colombian islands of San Andrés and Providencia in recorded history, Colombian President Iván Duque said Monday.
San Andrés and Providencia have been part of Colombia for centuries but are geographically closer to Central America than to the Colombian mainland.
Duque said Monday that at least one person died in Providencia and that Iota has affected 90% of the island’s infrastructure. The local airport is also unusable due to debris, Duque said.
“This is the first time that a Category 5 hurricane has reached our territory since the records began,” Duque said during a national press conference from Bogotá, the country’s capital. “We are facing an issue with characteristics never before witnessed by our country.”
A Navy ship was due to leave Cartagena on Monday night on its way to Providencia with supplies, Duque said.
Central America is still recovering from Eta
Iota is the second major hurricane to hit the area in two weeks. On November 3, Hurricane Eta made landfall as Category 4, causing landslides and floods that left thousands displaced and dozens of people dead or missing.
Iota is the thirteenth hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, making history with 30 named storms, the most ever recorded. This is the latest in the year that there has been a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic basin, according to the Hurricane Center.
More than 3.6 million people in Central America have been affected by Iota to varying degrees, the Red Cross said earlier this week.
While the full extent of Eta’s damage won’t be known for a while, the powerful hurricane, combined with the coronavirus pandemic, can have effects that last for years.
As a storm, Eta hovered over Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala for days, with heavy rains causing floods and landslides that wiped entire communities off the map.
Dozens of people in the remote Guatemalan town of San Cristóbal remain missing after a landslide swept through it last week.
CNN’s Hollie Silverman, Gene Norman and Robert Shackelford contributed to this report.
