Hurricane Iota slammed into Central America late Monday with ferocious winds and rain, threatening to cripple a region already reeling from a deadly storm two weeks ago. Iota, the most powerful Atlantic storm in a record-setting season, came ashore along Nicaragua’s northeastern coast as a Category 4 hurricane, and is moving westward with winds of 105 miles (169 kilometers) an hour. It’s likely to trigger deadly mudslides and a humanitarian crisis, just weeks after Hurricane Eta killed more than 100 people and forced tens of thousands to evacuate.
“A significant storm surge of 5-10 feet is still likely occurring” along the coast of Nicaragua, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tuesday in an update at 4 a.m. New York time. “In addition to the destructive winds and storm surge, there will be the potential for up to 30 inches of rainfall.”
Iota is now a Category 2 hurricane, and additional weakening is forecast for the next 36 hours as it moves farther inland over the rugged terrain of Nicaragua and Honduras. Yet life-threatening flash flooding and river flooding is expected through Thursday across parts of Central America.
Iota is the 30th named storm in the Atlantic this year, a record. The hyperactive hurricane season is part of a string of natural disasters in 2020, including deadly wildfires in the western U.S. and a derecho that left wreckage from Iowa to Indiana. They’re further evidence that the Earth’s climate is changing, threatening to bring more widespread devastation.
“The storm should make us reflect on what is happening and what has become the most vulnerable region in the world to climate change due to the effects of large industrial nations, but we suffer the consequences,” Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei said at a meeting with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, calling for green funds for climate change. “It’s not fair for us to continue going into debt to rebuild our countries and repair damage to infrastructure and agriculture.”