Storm Iota leaves over 30 dead in Central America

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SAN SALVADOR, Nov 19, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Iota’s death toll rose to over 30
on Wednesday after the storm unleashed mudslides, smashed infrastructure and
left thousands homeless in its wake across Central America, revisiting areas
devastated by Hurricane Eta just two weeks ago.

Iota made landfall in Nicaragua as a “catastrophic” Category 5 hurricane
Monday, but its remnants will continue to be deadly through Thursday even as
2020’s biggest Atlantic storm subsided over El Salvador.

The US National Hurricane Center warned of “life-threatening flash
flooding” across portions of Central America, due to heavy rainfall from
Iota’s tail.

“Flooding and mudslides across portions of Honduras, Nicaragua and
Guatemala could be exacerbated by saturated soils in place, resulting in
significant to potentially catastrophic impacts,” the NHC said.

Nicaragua has so far suffered the highest death toll from Iota. The giant
hurricane slammed the country on Monday at its most powerful, leaving 18
dead, including two children who were trying to cross a river in the south,
authorities said.

The bodies of three of the victims were recovered after a landslide in the
northern department of Matagalpa, and three others died in floods in Carazo
in the west.

Among 14 dead in Honduras were five members of the same family killed when
their home was swept away in a landslide in El Trapiche.

Another two people died in the Colombian Caribbean archipelago of San
Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina, as well as one woman in the
indigenous community of Ngabe Bugle in Panama, where about 2,000 people
hunkered down in shelters even as rains began to ease.

After blowing through Honduras, where it weakened from a hurricane to a
tropical storm with sustained winds of 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour, it
swept into El Salvador on Tuesday.

A motorcyclist died after a tree was blown over by the wind, the
Salvadorian government said. More than 800 people were evacuated from risk
areas and placed in 230 shelters.

Roberto Gonzalez, a meteorologist from El Salvador’s environment ministry,
told AFP Iota had sustained winds of up to 40 mph (65 kph) as it moved
towards the west of the country, and was expected to be downgraded to a “low
pressure system” from Wednesday.

In San Salvador, presidential official Carolina Recinos said “prevention
work” along with timely evacuations prevented the country suffering more
victims.

– Category 5 –

Iota became the only Atlantic hurricane this year to reach Category 5
status — the maximum level on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale — soon before
it made landfall in Nicaragua on Monday evening.

The hurricane made landfall in the same area as a Category 4 hurricane in
early November, bringing widespread flooding and landslides that left 200
people dead across Central America.

Bilwi, the main city in Nicaragua’s northern Caribbean region, was
devastated by the impact of Iota, only two weeks after being hammered by Eta.

“What Eta left standing, this hurricane came and finished it off,” said
top local government official Yamil Zapata.

He said Iota had demolished much of the infrastructure in the city of more
than 40,000 people.

Thousands had been left homeless, and electricity and water services were
destroyed.

“The damage is really great,” Zapata said. Trees were downed and roofs
ripped off houses, including one hotel, said the disaster agency Sinapred.
The coastal city’s dock had been swept away.

Authorities had rushed to evacuate thousands of people from coastal areas
of Nicaragua and Honduras in the immediate path of the storm.

The Atlantic has seen a record storm season this year, with 30 named
storms and 13 hurricanes.

Warmer seas caused by climate change are making hurricanes stronger for
longer after landfall, scientists say.