(ETH) – Hurricane Iota is bearing down on Central America as a dangerous Category 5, where it will bring potentially catastrophic rainfall flooding, mudslides, storm surge, and damaging winds for the second time in two weeks according to a new report from the Weather Channel.
The report also detailed how Iota has become only the second Category 5 hurricane on record in November and the record latest-in-season hurricane ever to reach that intensity in the Atlantic Basin. Hurricane warnings have been issued for portions of Nicaragua and Honduras, where hurricane conditions are expected soon.
Tropical storm warnings have also extended to the west and south of the hurricane warnings in both of those countries as well. The Weather Channel also revealed that this will be the first time on record two major hurricanes – Category 3 or stronger – made landfall in Nicaragua in the same hurricane season, much less only two weeks apart. Even more stunning is that NOAA’s hurricane database only documented seven such Category 3-plus landfalls in Nicaragua prior to the mid-19th century through 2019.
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