1 dead, more than 40,000 displaced as Hurricane Iota tears through Central America

ByEMILY SHAPIRO ABCNews logo
Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Hurricane Iota is ripping through Central America, packing catastrophic winds, life-threatening storm surge and extreme rain.

Iota made landfall Monday night along the northeastern coast of Nicaragua, about 15 miles from where Hurricane Eta made landfall as a Category 4 just 13 days earlier. Iota is now the strongest hurricane to hit Nicaragua in November on record.

Iota has since weakened to a tropical storm but is still dropping very heavy rain that could cause life-threatening flash floods, landslides and mudslides in Nicaragua, Honduras and parts of Guatemala through Thursday.

In Nicaragua, more than 40,000 people are in shelters. Several cities are reporting damage, including downed trees, downed power lines, damage to homes and flooding, said Marcio Bamaca, the director of Nicaragua's meteorological department.

In Colombia, at least one person is dead and another person is missing.

Colombia's president, Ivan Duque, said he flew over the hard-hit island of Providencia where they're working to deliver humanitarian supplies. Duque said the mayor in Providencia told him 99% of the island's infrastructure was destroyed.

In Honduras, heavy rain is flooding rivers and toppling trees.

There is a 30% chance for another tropical system to develop southeast of Nicaragua, bringing more rain to parts of Central America.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., the coldest air of the season is moving into the Northeast Tuesday night with freezing temperatures expected from Washington, D.C., to Boston.

The wind chill could fall to 20 degrees Fahrenheit in New York City Wednesday morning.

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