Three Dead As Weakening Eta Batters Nicaragua

Bilwi, Nicaragua, Nov 4 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Nov, 2020 ) :Hurricane Eta slowed to tropical storm speeds on Wednesday morning even as it pummeled Nicaragua, killing two people there and one in neighboring Honduras, while unleashing fierce winds and heavy downpours.

The storm had hammered impoverished indigenous communities along the coast when it made landfall a day earlier and caused heavy rains throughout much of Central America.

"Quite a lot of trees have fallen and traffic has been badly affected", said Nicaraguan infrastructure minister Oscar Mojica.

Eta uprooted trees and ripped roofs off homes in Bilwi, the biggest town on the northeastern coast and also known as Puerto Cabezas.

"We spent the whole night with strong gusts of wind, accompanied by rain," Kenny Lisby, head of a local radio station, told AFP. "It's possible there will be quite a lot of destruction." Winds tore down the concrete perimeter walls of the town's baseball stadium, and left a trail of fallen trees as dazed cattle and other animals wandered through the streets.

Giovany Nelson, 34, said his family was "locked in a room listening to the wind destroying the roof." Two Nicaraguans died after they were buried in a landslide while working in a mine in the municipality of Bonanza, the director of the local Red Cross, Auner Garcia, told Channel 10 television.

Authorities in Honduras said a child died in a collapsed house there, bringing the death toll in the region to three so far.

The National Hurricane Center warned the effects of Eta could be catastrophic for the region.

But it said the storm's winds had slowed to 70 miles (110 kilometers) per hour on Wednesday morning, about half the speed at which Eta made landfall.

The storm is forecast to continue moving inland over northern Nicaragua and central Honduras through Wednesday and into Thursday.