Growing Hurricane Iota forecast to be a Cat 4 as it approaches Honduras and Nicaragua
Hurricane Iota is expected to blast Central America Monday night as an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said Sunday.
According to the hurricane center’s 10 p.m. advisory, Iota is quickly strengthening and growing, with sustained winds at 105 mph, now at Category 2 strength. Iota is moving west at 10 mph, 80 miles east of Colombia’s Providencia Island and 235 miles east-southeast of Cabo Gracias a Dios on the Nicaragua-Honduras border.
Hurricane-strength winds blow 35 miles from the center of the storm and tropical storm force winds can be felt 150 miles from the center.
Hurricane warnings have been issued for Providencia Island, the Nicaraguan coast from the Nicaragua-Honduras border to Sandy Bay Sirpi and the Honduran coast from Punta Patuca to the Honduras-Nicaragua border. Storm surge on the coasts is forecast to raise water levels by 10 to 15 feet above normal.
A hurricane watch is in effect for the Colombian island of San Andres, which means residents could experience hurricane conditions.
Parts of north Honduras and northeast Nicaragua are expected to get 20 to 30 inches of rain. Northern Nicaragua, Guatemala, southern Belize and other parts of Honduras are expected to get 8 to 16 inches of rain.
“On the forecast track, Iota will move across the southwestern Caribbean Sea [Sunday], pass near or over Providencia island on Monday, and approach the coasts of Nicaragua and northeastern Honduras Monday night,” the hurricane center said.
“Rapid strengthening is expected during the next day or two, and Iota is forecast to be a major hurricane when it approaches Central America.”
Millions of Central Americans were bracing this weekend for Iota’s landfall, as Nicaragua and neighboring Honduras struggled to recover from the catastrophic Hurricane Eta, the worst storm to hit Honduras in more than 20 years. The Honduran government’s official death toll stood at 62, a figure that’s expected to grow as a result of life-threatening floods that overflowed rivers and triggered fatal mudslides.
“This is already a humanitarian catastrophe,” said Gonzalo Atxaerandio, the Central America disaster and crisis coordinator for the Red Cross who is based in Panama but traveled to Honduras last week.
On Friday, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez called for residents to donate supplies to Honduras, amid concerns of residents about the country’s customs process and bureaucratic protocols to distribute the needed provisions.
El Nuevo Herald staff writer Jimena Tavel contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 15, 2020 at 8:15 AM.
