Nicaragua is bracing for the imminent arrival of Hurricane Eta. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the potentially catastrophic hurricane could make landfall early Tuesday, with winds in excess of 248 kilometers per hour.
Thousands of people on Monday began evacuating Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast, where a hurricane warning is posted from the Honduras-Nicaragua border to Sandy Bay Sirpi.
The hurricane is located 75 kilometers east of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua.
Forecasters warn of flooding and landslides, especially in central and northern Nicaragua and most of Honduras.
Eastern Guatemala, southern Belize and Jamaica are also expected to get heavy rain.
Eta is already impacting life in Honduras. Cancellations are said to be coming in ahead of a five-day national vacation aimed at bolstering tourism and bringing some financial help to the pandemic weary economy.
Eta is the eighth Atlantic storm of the hurricane season, which ends November 30.
