Shelters full as Hurricane Eta makes landfall in Nicaragua today

Nicaragua on Monday struggled to remove citizens from its Atlantic coast or put them in shelters as Hurricane Eta barreled closer, while the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) notified of flash surges and “catastrophic winds” in Central America.

On the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale Eta has now strengthened as Category four Hurricane which is gaining force and suspected to push into the northeast shoreline of Nicaragua early on Tuesday morning, the Miami-based National Hurricane Centre stated.

According to the recent NHC prediction, gusts could reach 160 miles per hour (258 kph) by the time Eta comes to land, NHC declared. Once the hurricane crashes into the mountains of Nicaragua and Honduras, it should decrease speedily.

In the Nicaraguan city of Puerto Cabezas, where Eta is suspected of making landfall, government shelters had stretched potential, and there was a town-wide power blackout following heavy rains, stated Javier Plat, a local Catholic priest.

By Monday evening, Eta was 45 miles (72 km) east of Puerto Cabezas, stirring west-southwest at seven miles per hour and sweeping packed winds of 150 mph, the NHC continued.

Defining it as a “critical hurricane”, NHC announced Eta’s downpours might produce “life-threatening rain surge, catastrophic gusts, flash flooding and avalanches” in portions of Central America. Jamaica, southern Haiti, the Cayman Islands, El Salvador and southern Mexico are forecasted to be caught under the fire.

Eta was poised to be one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit Nicaragua in years, and may examine President Daniel Ortega, who manages over one of the most impoverished nations in the Americas.

On Monday evening, powerful winds and massive thunderstorms strapped Nicaragua, and the administration put areas in the hurricane’s path on red warning. It has relocated about 3,000 coastal peoples from their homes and sent stocks to assist residents in preparing for the storm’s impact, Vice President Rosario Murillo stated.

Eta could also trigger devastating flows in Nicaragua, while water levels could stretch 14 feet to 21 feet (4.3m to 6.4m) over normal tide levels, NHC declared.

In Honduras, the government has put five Atlantic coast areas on red alert, it is the highest alert, and relocations of people were underway, authorities said.