Hurricane Eta blasted Nicaragua as a Category 4 storm Tuesday, bringing catastrophic winds and the possibility of flash flooding, landslides and a deadly storm surge to the Central American country, officials said.
The National Hurricane Center said Tuesday afternoon that Eta — the fifth major hurricane of the 2020 season – was moving at 3 mph across the country’s northeastern coast with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph.
Eta was forecast to produced a storm surge up to 21 feet, and rainfall totaling 35 inches.
Guillermo González, director of Nicaragua’s emergency management agency, said in a news conference that there were reports of swollen rivers, corrugated metal roofs flying off homes and fallen trees, poles and power lines, the Associated Press reported.
So far, there were no reported injuries or deaths, he said, according to the AP.
In Bilwi, the main coastal city in the region, hospital officials moved patients to a school campus and thousands of people remained in shelters, according to the AP.
Military search and rescue teams were scouring the area.
The hurricane underwent a dramatic intensification Monday, strengthening by 80 mph in 24 hours and becoming a ferocious Category 4 storm tied with Hurricane Laura as the strongest yet of 2020 season.
Eta is expected to linger and is forecast to move across Nicaragua and Honduras through Thursday. This weekend, Eta may redevelop over the northwest Caribbean, and by early next week some forecast models track it northeast somewhere between the Gulf of Mexico and Cuba.
There is high uncertainty in this forecast and it is too early for more details, but people in the U.S. should keep an eye on this forecast going into next week.
Eta’s intensity is rare for a November storm. At 150 mph, it became the 3rd strongest November hurricane on record.
The Associated Press contributed.