At the 10:00 a.m. ET advisory from the National Hurricane Center, Category 4 Hurricane Eta was about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south-southeast of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, moving toward the west-southwest near 5 mph (7 kph).
Eta has maximum sustained winds that are close to 145 mph (230 kph) with higher gusts. The storm’s minimum central pressure is 938 mb – 27.70 inches.
10 AM EST Tuesday, November 3 Hurricane #Eta Key Messages: Extremely dangerous Eta expected to bring life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds, flash flooding, and landslides across portions of Central America. pic.twitter.com/mW0ReBaBJw
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) November 3, 2020
According to Reuters, Hurricane Eta has made landfall on the northeast coast of Nicaragua near the port of Puerto Cabezas, the head of the government’s disaster management agency SINAPRED said on Tuesday.
“The hurricane is just hitting the land now,” Guillermo Gonzalez, the director of SINAPRED, told a news conference, adding that strong winds have already pulled the roofs off houses and knocked down trees in Puerto Cabezas, a city in one of Nicaragua’s poorest regions.
“Catastrophic wind damage is expected where Eta’s eyewall moves onshore within the hurricane warning area within the next few hours, with tropical storm conditions already occurring in this area,” the NHC said. At landfall, it’s expected the storm will drop between 15 to 25 inches of rain across much of Nicaragua and Honduras. Other areas of Central America could see well over 10 inches of rain.
Category 4 Hurricane #Eta, the strongest Greek-named storm in history, is bearing down on Central America. We're LIVE with the latest. pic.twitter.com/TcpAzFDrWY
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) November 3, 2020
“This rainfall will lead to catastrophic, life-threatening flash flooding and river flooding, along with landslides in areas of higher terrain of Central America,” the NHC said, according to Fox News.
Eta is the 28th named Atlantic storm this season, tying the 2005 record for named storms, and there’s still a month to go. The amount of rain Eta is forecast to drop is being compared to 1998’s Hurricane Mitch, one of the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes in history. An NHC archival report said Mitch led to the deaths of more than 9,000 people.
#Hurricane #Eta forecast triggers memories of Mitch 22 years ago. pic.twitter.com/FZ3bSBcVMz
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) November 2, 2020
