Hurricane Iota makes landfall in Nicaragua

Iota ripped off the roof of a makeshift hospital and toppled electricity poles as it made landfall late on Monday in Nicaragua. The Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour hit the coast some 15 miles south of where Hurricane Eta touched down on Nov. 3. Authorities evacuated about 40,000 people to shelters ahead of the storm, while Honduras moved about 80,000 people to safety.

What’s the outlook? Authorities warned already saturated soil left many areas at risk of landslides and floods. Iota could bring a storm surge of 15-20 feet above normal tides. Eta killed at least 120 people in Central America and Mexico after making landfall in Nicaragua as a Category 4 hurricane. Now, northern Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and southern Belize are looking at 8-16 inches of rain with 30 inches possible in isolated areas. The flooding from this season’s 30th named storm could also affect Costa Rica and Panama.

Dig deeper: Find the latest on this rapidly developing storm at the National Hurricane Center.

Editor’s note: WORLD has updated this report since its initial posting.