'Extremely Dangerous' Hurricane Eta Hits Nicaragua

An "extremely dangerous" hurricane named Eta lashed the north coast of Nicaragua on Tuesday as it made landfall packing heavy rain and high winds, authorities said

Bilwi, Nicaragua, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Nov, 2020 ) :An "extremely dangerous" hurricane named Eta lashed the north coast of Nicaragua on Tuesday as it made landfall packing heavy rain and high winds, authorities said.

"It was a Category 4 impact" on the Saffir-Simpson scale that ranges from one to five, said Marcio Baca, director of meteorology at the Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies (INETER.) "It has winds of 230 kph (140 miles per hour). It's basically at the edge of land," said Baca.

Hurricane Eta tore up trees and roofs in Bilwi, the main city on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast, subjecting its residents to a 10-hour ordeal.

"We spent the whole night with strong gusts of wind alongside rain that is still falling," Kenny Lisby, the director at Radio Caribe, told AFP. "It's possible there's been quite a lot of destruction.

" Category 4 hurricanes reach between 130 and 156 mph (209-251 kph) and can cause "catastrophic damage," according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC.) Nicaraguan authorities said there had been no reports of deaths.

Around 100,000 people live in Bilwi region, also known as Puerto Cabezas, mostly indigenous people living in villages.

The weather system had rapidly gained strength in the Caribbean Sea on Monday.

"Life threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds, flash flooding and landslides are expected across portions of Central America," the NHC had warned.

Emergency services had to evacuate more than 400 people due to the floods. Another 100 people were evacuated from the ports of La Ceiba and Tela.

The water level in the Lean and La Masica rivers in the Atlantida department also rose, emergency services said.