Powerful Hurricane Eta has gathered strength quickly as it rumbles closer to Nicaragua and Honduras, which it is expected to pound with devastating winds and rains, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) says.
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The storm, forecast to become a fierce Category 4 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, was expected to strike the northeast coast of Nicaragua and neighbouring areas of eastern Honduras by early Tuesday, the Miami-based NHC said.
Through Friday evening, Eta's rains will cause "catastrophic, life threatening" flash flooding and landslides in the region, the NHC said.
Jamaica, southern Haiti, the Cayman Islands, El Salvador and southern Mexico may also be hit.
Eta, which had become a Category 2 storm by mid-morning, is poised to be one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit Nicaragua in years.
The government is on high alert and has evacuated some coastal communities and sent in supplies to help residents prepare for the storm's impact, state-run media said.
In Honduras, the government has placed five Atlantic coast regions on red alert, its highest warning, and evacuations were underway, local authorities said.
Eta is the 28th named tropical storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, tying an all-time record set in 2005, the NHC's Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch said.
Australian Associated Press
