It makes you want to cry. Along Honduras' remote eastern coast Tuesday, people continued evacuating from damaged and flooding homes. As much as 20 inches of rain are expected in Belize as Category 5 Hurricane Iota moves inland across Central America. Before it weakened, Iota was the first Category 5 storm of this record-breaking hurricane season and is threatening many areas of Central America that are still recovering from the devastating effects of. In the aftermath of Eta, Honduras has tens of thousands of homeless people. Hurricane Iota tore across Nicaragua on Tuesday, hours after roaring ashore as a Category 4 storm along almost exactly the same stretch of the Caribbean coast that was recently devastated by an equally powerful hurricane. Iota comes after Hurricane Eta and Tropical Storm Theta. But its slow speed shouldn’t be mistaken with weakness. Iota is the record 30th named storm of this year’s extraordinarily busy Atlantic hurricane season. BACK TO QUESTIONS. Hurricane Iota hits Colombia. Hurricane Iota comes just two weeks after another devastating storm, Eta, hit the Caribbean and travelled further into Central America. Hurricane Iota made landfall at 10:40 p.m. EST in Nicaragua, with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph, about 2 mph shy of Category 5 status. It had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph and was spinning westward at 12 mph. Hurricane Iota made landfall in Nicaragua as a Category 4 storm, with the Central American region bracing for potentially catastrophic rainfall, flooding, mudslides, a storm surge, and damaging winds. Many houses lost roofs, fences and fruit trees. At 10 p.m., Hurricane Iota was centered about 30 miles south of Puerto Cabezas, and was churning west at 9 mph. The country reported 74 deaths and nearly 57,000 people in shelters, mostly in the north. Mirna Wood, vice president of the Miskito ethnic group in Honduras' far east Gracias a Dios region, was in Tegucigalpa collecting donations for her community ravaged by Eta when Iota hit. TWEET. A day earlier, Iota intensified into a Category 5 storm, but it weakened as it neared the coast and made landfall with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph. Learn the facts and frequently asked questions about Hurricane Iota. Record-breaking Iota became the Category 5 hurricane to develop in the Atlantic basin the latest in the year — November 16 — in any hurricane season on record since 1851. Iota considered the strongest hurricane in history to hit Nicaragua, government says By Madeline Holcombe , Amir Vera , Eliott C. McLaughlin , CNN Updated 0320 GMT (1120 HKT) November 18, … Where is Hurricane Iota expected to make landfall? Witnesses said the second hurricane was even stronger than its anterior. On November 3, Hurricane Eta made landfall as a Category 4 storm, causing landslides and … The storm is still forecast to hit Central America as a hurricane. "We're running out of superlatives for this Atlantic hurricane season. Duque said Monday at least one person is dead on Providencia and 90% of the island's infrastructure has been affected by Iota. Iota is the strongest Atlantic hurricane of the year and only the second November hurricane to reach category five – the last was in 1932. Hurricane Iota made landfall on Nicaragua's coast late Monday, threatening significant damage to the same part of Central America already battered by Hurricane Eta less than two weeks ago. The storm made landfall near the town of Haulover at 10:40 p.m. EST with sustained winds near 155 mph, according to an advisory from the … Local villagers carry a woman during an evacuation ahead of landfall of Hurricane Iota on November 16, 2020 in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. Hurricane Iota winds measured at 155 mph making it the ‘strongest hurricane of 2020 Atlantic season’ and 1 mph below Category 5. The torrential rains caused by Hurricane Iota in the Caribbean have caused disasters in several Colombian regions where thousands of people have been affected and on Sunday authorities were on alert in the Archipelago of San Andrés, which is … Iota is expected to make landfall in nearly the exact same location where Hurricane Eta did about two weeks ago, according to the National Hurricane Center … More than 40,000 people were in shelters. The island has no direct flights to the continent, but it has become an increasingly popular tourist destination thanks to its quiet beaches and rich marine life. Even before Iota hit Nicaragua, it scraped over the tiny Colombian island of Providencia, more than 155 miles off Nicaragua's coast. A tropical storm warning is in effect for Providencia, while San Andres is under a hurricane watch, the hurricane center said. Preliminary reports from the coast included toppled trees and electric poles and roofs stripped from homes and businesses, said Guillermo González, director of Nicaragua's emergency management agency. Copyright © 2021 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Iota is the strongest Atlantic hurricane of the year and only the second November hurricane to reach category five - the last was in 1932. image copyright Reuters "We are facing an issue with characteristics never before witnessed by our country.". Iota is expected to make landfall in nearly the exact same location where Hurricane Eta did about two weeks ago, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Nicaragua's meteorology director, Marcio Baca, said areas where the soil was already saturated would receive 6 to 7 inches of additional rain. People try to recover belongings amid mud after the passage of Hurricane Eta as they prepare to evacuate the Omonita neighborhood in El Progreso, Yoro department, Honduras. / CBS/AP. It’s the second major hurricane to hit the region in two weeks. The Category 5 hurricane was downgraded to Category 4 right before hitting landfall. Iota became a hurricane early Sunday and rapidly gained power, and was expected to pass over or near Colombia's Providencia island during the night. The Miskito region straddling Honduras and Nicaragua raced to get people to safety before a forecast direct hit from Iota. 2 minutes read. The storm had maximum sustained winds, tightly … Some of the infrastructure partially damaged by Eta ended up succumbing to the force of Iota. Hurricane Iota forecast to hit storm-ravaged Central America as a major storm By Jason Hanna and Alanne Orjoux, CNN 11/15/2020 Louisville police … Hurricane Iota powers up in new threat to Central America A fast-strengthening Hurricane Iota is sweeping over the western Caribbean and predicted to become a very … Hurricane "Iota" strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane -- peak winds of 260 km/h (160 mph) -- on November 16, 2020, as it was passing over the Colombian Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, making it the strongest tropical cyclone of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season and the strongest-ever to hit Colombia. ET, it had lost strength, becoming a Category 2 … Iota is stronger, based on central pressure, than 2005′s Hurricane Katrina and is the first storm with a Greek alphabet name to hit Category 5, Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach said. RAMMB/NOAA Hurricane Iota blows over Central America in a satellite image … Duration: 01:03 16/11/2020. The extent of the damage was unclear because much of the affected region was without electricity and phone and internet service and strong winds hampered radio transmissions. (CNN)Hurricane Iota has made landfall in Nicaragua as a Category 4 major hurricane after pummeling the Colombian islands of San Andres and Providencia. It became a dangerous Category 3 hurricane early Monday, and the U.S. National Hurricane Center warned it would probably reach Category 4 strength as it approached the Central America mainland late Monday. Some stayed behind in an attempt to protect what few possessions remained. Iota came ashore just 15 miles (25 kilometers) south of where Hurricane Eta made landfall Nov. 3, also as a Category 4 storm. Hurricane Iota hits Nicaragua threatening catastrophic damage This article is more than 1 month old. Storm hits Caribbean coast less than two weeks after Hurricane Eta carved a … HURRICANE IOTA is now a category five storm in the Atlantic Ocean; the first in 2020. “Reconnaissance aircraft finds Iota has strengthened into the thirteenth hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season,” it tweeted. Monday, November 16th, 2020. Hurricane Iota comes just two weeks after another devastating storm, Eta, hit the Caribbean and travelled further into Central America. Yahoo News. Hurricane Iota slammed ashore at 10:40 p.m. EST Monday just 15 miles from where Hurricane Eta made landfall on Nov. 3. Hurricane Iota was the latest Atlantic hurricane to attain Category 5 intensity and only the second Category 5 Atlantic hurricane to occur within the month of November on record—the other being the 1932 Cuba hurricane. While Eta came up and hit the state of Florida twice, Iota is not expected to make its way to the U.S. Iota is stronger, based on central pressure, than 2005′s Hurricane Katrina and is the first storm with a Greek alphabet name to hit Category 5, Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach said. The storm hovered for days over Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala, with heavy rains creating flooding and landslides that wiped entire communities off the map. By Tuesday afternoon, Iota had diminished to a tropical storm and was moving inland over northern Nicaragua. Panama reported that one person was killed and another missing in its western indigenous autonomous Ngabe Bugle area near the border with Costa Rica. Iota is now the strongest hurricane to hit Nicaragua in November on record. November 16, 2020 Heading to directly hit the Nicaraguan coast, Hurricane Iota strengthened this Sunday and its level is expected to increase even more. The storm made landfall near the town of Haulover at 10:40 p.m. EST with sustained winds near 155 mph, according to an advisory from the National Hurricane Center. A hurricane warning is in effect for the coast of Nicaragua from the Honduras/Nicaragua border to Sandy Bay Sirpi, and the northeastern coast of Honduras from Punta Patuca to the Nicaragua border, according to the hurricane center. Iota became the 13th hurricane of the season, two shy of the record 15 set in 2005 but the record-breaking 30th named storm of this season. Iota caused severe damage to areas of Central America already devastated by Hurricane Eta just less than two weeks prior. Tropical Depression Iota developed into a category 4 hurricane while continuing its path through the Caribbean Sea towards the northeastern coast of Nicaragua and southeastern Honduras, where it is expected to hit in the afternoon or night on Monday. The storm has weakened … It was already a record-breaking system, being the 30th named storm of this year’s extraordinarily busy Atlantic hurricane season. Iota … This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. "But my mom and my grandmother have some things, and that's why we're living here, to be closer to the house and keep them from stealing the few little things they have left.". "We are facing an incredible emergency," Wood said. Freshman congressman who said 'it's time to fight' now condemns riot. Palm trees blow in the wind as Nicaragua prepares to receive hurricane Iota on November 16, 2020, in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. In Honduras, officials said at least 50,000 people had been removed from high-risk areas. Colombian President Ivan Duque said one person was killed and 98% of the island's infrastructure was "affected.". The official end of the hurricane season is November 30. © 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Australia to kill pigeon that crossed Pacific Ocean from Oregon, Past COVID infection provides at least 5 months of immunity, study shows, Tower of London raven goes missing, feared dead, California Privacy/Information We Collect. That was just 15 miles south of where Hurricane Eta made landfall November 3, also as a Category 4 storm. Iota made landfall just 15 miles (24km) south of where Eta hit on 3 November. Some 40,000 people in the area had moved to shelters from low-lying land beside rivers and the sea, but other people remained stranded near the border with Nicaragua. Iota was the second hurricane to hit the North Caribbean of Nicaragua in the last 15 days. Such high rainfall amounts will "lead to significant, life-threatening flash flooding and river flooding, along with mudslides in areas of higher terrain," the advisory warned. In mountainous Tegucigalpa, residents of low-lying, flood-prone areas were being evacuated in anticipation of Iota's rains, as were residents of hillside neighborhoods vulnerable to landslides. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Iota could bring dangerous wind, storm surge and as much as 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rainfall to … Hurricane Iota made landfall in Nicaragua on November 17, just 15 miles south of where Hurricane Eta hit two weeks earlier. Iota is now the strongest hurricane to hit Nicaragua in November on record. "This hurricane is definitely worse" than Eta, Jason Bermúdez, a university student from Bilwi, said as screeching winds preceded Iota's arrival. What wind speed did Hurricane Eta have? Rep. 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Iota will be the second major hurricane to hit the area in as many weeks. On November 3. Hurricane Iota is the second Category 4 storm to hit Nicaragua in two weeks. Costa Rica and Panama should also see about 4 to 8 inches, with up to 12 inches possible in some areas. Iota developed later in the season than any other Category 5 storm on record, beating a November 8, 1932, Cuba hurricane, said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. A fallen tree lies on the road after the passage of Hurricane Iota in Siuna, Nicaragua, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. Eta triggered flash floods and mudslides in parts of Central America and Mexico and killed more than 130 people. A man uses a plastic bag for protection from the rain as he surveils an area of Barrio San Juan where evacuated families live in shelters ahead of Tropical Storm Iota on November 17, 2020, in La Lima, Honduras. Iota is projected to hit the Colombian island of Providencia by late Sunday and is expected to rapidly strengthen into a major hurricane … It could even go up to category 4. The storm has since weakened, and as of 9 p.m. CST Tuesday, Iota was packing only 40-mph winds about 25 miles south-southwest of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, the National Hurricane … Some were rescued by Nicaraguan authorities, she said. SHARE. Video Transcript [AUDIO OUT] Latest Stories. Where did Hurricane Iota develop? Updated on: November 17, 2020 / 7:40 PM Hurricane Iota strengthens to Category 5 as it nears Nicaragua. Iota hit Central America in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Iota became the 30th named storm in a record-breaking hurricane season after forming in the central Caribbean Sea Friday. Maynor Valenzuela/Getty Images On Monday, Wendy Guadalupe Contreras Paz, 34, was living under a tarp with her four children and seven other relatives along a main boulevard in La Lima. Hurricane Iota's landfall location is approximately 15 miles south of where Hurricane Eta made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on November 3rd. Later, Nicaragua Vice President and first lady Rosario Murillo said that a brother and sister, ages 11 and 8, had drowned in the community of La Pinuela trying to cross the swollen Solera River. Hurricane Iota wreaks havoc in Colombia, moves toward San Andrés. displaced thousands and left scores of people dead or missing. Nicaraguan Navy sailors help evacuate people from the Karata and Wawa Bar communities ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Iota in Bilwi, Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua Sunday. Iota is projected to hit the Colombian island of Providencia by late Sunday and is expected to rapidly strengthen into a major hurricane as it approaches Central America. In the community of Brus Laguna, some 500 people were in a shelter there and another 900 were being moved elsewhere, Mayor Teonela Paisano Wood said. Tropical Storm Iota forecast to hit Central America at or near major hurricane strength Another 30 inches of rain is expected for the region just hit by Eta. Many people whose homes flooded moved to shelters or stayed with relatives. Iota was still a tropical storm on Saturday, traveling west at 5 mph with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, according to the hurricane center’s 10 p.m. advisory. Updated 0440 GMT (1240 HKT) November 17, 2020. Hurricane Iota battered Nicaragua with screeching winds and pounding surf Tuesday, chasing tens of thousands of people from their homes along the same stretch of the Caribbean coast that was devastated by an equally powerful hurricane just two weeks ago. Hurricane Warnings have … In her last communication with the mayor of the community of Villeda Morales late Monday, he told her Iota was hitting them hard and the community had not completely evacuated. Iota was still a tropical storm on Saturday, traveling west at 5 mph with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, according to the hurricane center’s 10 p.m. advisory. Hurricane Iota made landfall Monday evening along northeastern Nicaragua. It also sets the record for the latest Category 5 hurricane on record, beating the record set by the Nov. 8, 1 932, Cuba Hurricane. Iota will be the second major hurricane to hit the area in as many weeks. … Total damage from the storm is estimated at US$1.4 billion. First published on November 17, 2020 / 5:17 AM. Hurricane Iota developed in the south-central Caribbean Sea on November 13 as a tropical depression. Online News Editor November 15, 2020. “It is likely that the heavy rainfall from Iota, through Thursday, will lead to life-threatening flash flooding and river flooding in parts of northern Colombia and Central America,” the NHC warned. Authorities tried to force most of them to move to shelters ahead of Iota's arrival. “I had gone seven months without work and three days after I got called back this flooding happened,” the 50-year-old said. Such activity has focused attention on climate change, which scientists say is causing wetter, stronger and more destructive storms. Record-breaking Iota became the Category 5 hurricane to develop in the Atlantic basin the latest in the year — November 16 — in any hurricane season on record since 1851. The Tola River topped its banks, and western Nicaragua, along the Pacific coast, was forecast to receive the most rain. The major storm is forecast to hit Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala – areas still recovering from Category 4 Hurricane Eta. Providencia is inhabited almost exclusively by the descendants of African slaves and British colonizers, who speak an English version of Creole as their native language. 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