Hurricane Iota leaves 30 dead and a trail of destruction

The Atlantic hurricane that hit Central America has been categorised as the strongest hurricane in history to hit Nicaragua forcing thousands to flee homes.

More than 400,000 people in Nicaragua have reportedly been affected by hurricane Iota that made landfall near Haulover on Tuesday. The National Hurricane Centre (NHC) has categorised Iota as Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds near 155 mph. A Nicaraguan government press release said that over 62,000 people in the Central American nation have been moved into 683 government shelters following the storm. Till early Friday, 30 people have been reported to have died from the storm that has hit other Central and South American countries too.

Iota is now considered the strongest storm to hit Nicaragua in the country’s history, according to the Nicaraguan government. Several remote towns have been cut-off and the government and aid agencies are making efforts to ensure relief and food supplies to the people there. For instance, the city of Bilwi, also known as Puerto Cabezas, has lost all communication with the outside world due to blackouts and fallen electrical cables.

In Columbia, at least two people have died and one is missing, according to Colombian President Ivan Duque. More than 3.6 million people across Central and South America have been affected by the storm to varying degrees, a Red Cross press release said earlier this week.

However on Thursady, Iota was downgraded to a Category 4 storm, the NHC said. The center of the storm is expected to move over southern Honduras and continue to weaken near El Salvador.

Iota is the second major hurricane to hit the region in as many weeks. On November 3, Hurricane Eta made landfall as a Category 4 storm, causing landslides and flooding that displaced thousands and left scores of people dead or missing. Eta left at least 200 people dead. Iota is the 13th hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, a historic season bringing 30 named storms – the most ever.