Hurricane Iota strengthened this Monday to reach category 5 in its advance from the Atlantic Ocean towards Central America.
The meteorological phenomenon threatens "extreme winds and life-threatening storm surges" on the northeast coast of Nicaragua, as well as dangerous flash floods in other parts of the region that are far from recovering from the
effects of Eta
, a cyclone that left
261 deaths in six countries of the region 10 days ago.
After leaving heavy rains in the Colombian Caribbean, the storm, which has been defined by the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) as a “catastrophic hurricane”, is expected to remain in category 5 until touching the Nicaraguan coast on Monday night.
The first rains and gusts of Iota are already hitting the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, especially the city of Bilwi, where Eta caused heavy damage and where scenes of fear and frenzy were experienced this Monday: the residents took their belongings from the houses, while they were authorities evacuated the most vulnerable areas.
In the Nicaraguan Caribbean, a very poor and isolated area, the feeling is that the elements do not give up.
The community members of Wawa Bar, a small town wiped off the map by Eta, began to rebuild on the ravages.
But since the weekend they began to be evacuated due to the threat of the new hurricane.
The Nicaraguan Institute for Territorial Studies (Ineter) estimates that the center of Iota will approach land on Monday night, with a probable landfall in the areas adjacent to Bilwi.
In some areas of Nicaragua, the red alert has been on since the Eta pass and the authorities warn that this new hurricane could affect tens of thousands of people.
"Some 80,000 families will be at risk of this phenomenon in 629 critical flood points and 424 landslides out of a total of 1,485,000 exposed people," explained Guillermo González, director of the National System for Prevention, Mitigation and Attention of Disasters ( Sinapred).
According to him, the country is in a position to set up about 1,300 shelters.
But the neighbors who were already occupying these shelters have criticized the Government for the shortages and lack of food in those centers.
Potential "catastrophic effects" in Central America
Iota is also expected to bring heavy rain and life-threatening flash floods in Central America through Tuesday, according to the NHC.
The agency warned that the risk of floods and landslides in some of these places may be accentuated by the effects of Hurricane Eta, which hit Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua with special force, which can generate "significant catastrophic effects."
# LoLast # HurricaneIOTA 🌀reaches category 5.
With sustained winds of 260 km / h it reaches the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
It is located 205 km southeast of Cabo de Gracias a Dios, it is expected to enter Nicaraguan soil tonight.
pic.twitter.com/rxtl71fuJX
- COPECO.HONDURAS (@HondurasCopeco) November 16, 2020
In addition to the more than 260 dead and dozens of disappeared, Eta left hundreds of thousands of displaced people, towns in Guatemala declared as "holy fields" due to the impossibility of carrying out rescue work and 20% of the population of Honduras without nothing to put in your mouth or a roof to protect yourself from the arrival of more water, according to the International Red Cross.
Eta hit the Caribbean coast of Central America hard two weeks ago as a Category 4 hurricane. It was later downgraded to a tropical storm, but strong winds and falling water for several days in a row caused flooding and landslides.
Iota leaves Cartagena de Indias flooded
Iota is the thirteenth hurricane this season in the Atlantic, which is being unusually active.
In its advance through the Caribbean, the cyclone has left devastation in Cartagena de Indias and now also threatens the archipelago of San Andrés.
The walled city of colonial architecture in the Colombian Caribbean is submerged under the waters after the passage of the storm.
Its intense rains have left this weekend, a festive bridge in Colombia, more than 150,000 victims and 33 neighborhoods flooded in the tourist port, where local authorities have declared public calamity.
The alerts moved this Monday to the archipelago of San Andrés and Providencia, near the coast of Central America.
Up to 70% of Cartagena was flooded this weekend, according to the mayor, William Dau.
The images of streets turned into streams are repeated from the peripheral neighborhoods, the hardest hit, to the famous historic center of colonial balconies in a city that depends on tourism and has not yet recovered from the economic and health impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Hundreds of victims have been transferred to a sports arena set up as a shelter and the national government has confirmed the delivery of 10,000 aid packages that include food and hygiene packages.
The rains have wreaked havoc across the country.
Although no fatalities have been reported in Cartagena, Colombia has suffered a strong winter wave, aggravated by the Iota pass, which leaves at least four dead, 16 missing and thousands of victims.
The rains have hit the Caribbean departments, as well as Antioquia and Chocó, in the northwest of the country, according to the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD).
In the Antioquia town of Dabeiba, three people died and another 16 are missing due to landslides caused by the rains.
In the jungle Chocó, one of the poorest departments in Colombia, on the Pacific, there are more than a dozen municipalities also affected by the inclement rains.
There, a person died due to the collapse of a house.
Authorities are closely monitoring the situation in the archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia, Santa Catalina and the keys, where swell and hurricane force winds can wreak havoc.
The airports in the area are not operating, San Andrés announced a curfew and woke up without electricity service due to the fall of poles, while Providencia was cut off on Monday, when the General Maritime Directorate reported that Iota had been strengthened.