Hurricane Iota is now a Category 5 hurricane near Central America

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) – Hurricane Iota quickly strengthened Monday into a Category 5 hurricane that is likely to cause catastrophic damage to the same part of Central America that was already hit two weeks ago by a powerful hurricane Eta.

Ayota has intensified in the western Caribbean countries on the approach of Neocarga and Honduras. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the hurricane gave a maximum wind speed of 160 miles per hour (260 kph). It was centered about 80 miles (130 kilometers) east-southeast of Puerto Cabezas, also known as Bilvi, Nicaragua, and continued 9 miles (15 kph) west.

Officials warned that Aita may come ashore in areas where heavy rains have saturated the land, causing new landslides and flooding, and the storm’s shock could reach 15 to 20 feet (4.5 to 6 meters) above normal tides. Is.

The eruption of that storm was in the mind of Yasmina Reid in the Al Mule neighborhood of Bilvi on Monday, sitting tight in front of the sea.

“The situation doesn’t look good at all,” Breed said. “We woke up without electricity with rain and the surf is really growing more.”

Ried, who works at a small-to-large fishing organization called Pikwinera, said the roof of his house was blown up in Eta less than two weeks ago. “We repaired it as much as possible, now I think the wind will pick up again because they say (Iota) is even stronger,” Viride said, as neighbors were riding in the windows and strengthening the roof.

Meanwhile, Surf came to the back of his house, where he lives with eight other members of his family. “Today I am again afraid of losing my home and I am scared for all of us living in this neighborhood.”

Breed said some neighbors had moved elsewhere to live with relatives, but most had stayed. “We’re almost all here,” he said. “Neither the army nor the government came to move us.”

Cairo Jarquin, Nicaragua’s Emergency Response Project Manager for Catholic Relief Services, visited Bilvi and small coastal communities on Friday.

At Vava Bar, Jarquin said he got “complete destruction.” People were working hard to put a roof over the heads of their families, but now Ayota threatened to take the rest.

“Anything that stays upright can be wrecked,” Jarquin said. There were other communities far away that could not be reached due to the condition of the roads. He said he heard Vava had vacated the bar on Saturday.

They were evacuating from low-lying areas in Nicaragua and Honduras near their shared border over the weekend.

Limborth Bucardo, of the Miskito indigenous ethnic group, said many people have gone to church in Bilvi. He was sitting at home with his wife and two children, but this time decided to live with relatives in a safe neighborhood.

“We hadn’t finished repairing and finishing our houses,” Bucardo said. “The shelters in Bilvi are already full, there are people (surroundings) around.”

This is the 30th hurricane to be recorded in this year’s extraordinarily busy Atlantic hurricane season. Rapidly intensifying this season is also the ninth hurricane, a dangerous event that happens more and more frequently. Such activity has focused on climate change, which scientists say is causing wetter, stronger and more destructive storms.

And was Nicaragua was hit by a Category 4 hurricane, with torrential rains killing at least 120 people, causing flash floods and mudslides in parts of Central America and Mexico. It then merged with Cuba, around the Florida Keys and the Gulf of Mexico, near Cedar Key, near Florida, before shouting again on the coast and striking towards Florida and the Carolinas.

Iota forecast 16 inches (200-400 millimeters) of rain in inches from northern Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and southern Belize, while 30 inches (750 millimeters) of rain fell in different places. Costa Rica and Panama could experience heavy rains and potential flooding, the hurricane center said.

Eta was the 28th hurricane of the year, setting a 2005 record. Remains of Theta, 29th in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, moved on Sunday.

For the past few decades, meteorologists have been more concerned about storms like Iota that are gaining strength faster than usual. They set an official threshold for this intensity – a hurricane increased wind speeds by 35 miles (56 kilometers) in just 24 hours. Iota doubled it.

Earlier this year, Henna, Laura, Sally, Teddy, Gamma, Delta, Zeta and Ayota all intensified rapidly. Laura and Delta tied or set a record for fast intensity.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Climate and hurricane scientists studied the impact and discovered that “there is a lot to do with changes in the human environment.”

In November, there were two major hurricanes in the Atlantic, with winds of more than 110 miles per hour (177 kpl) for the first time on record, according to hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbeck of Colorado State University. When Iota’s peak winds reached 155 mph (250 kPl), they teamed up with Lenny in 1999 for a strong Atlantic hurricane at the end of the K’S lender year.

The official end of the hurricane season is November 30th.

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Marlon Gonzalez, Associated Press Writer in Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Seth Borenstein in Bethesda, Mo.; And Christopher Sherman of Mexico City contributed to this report.