Hurricane Iota strengthens as it heads towards Central America

Honduras and Guatemala start evacuations as record 30th Atlantic storm approaches

Tropical Storm Iota approaches Central America on November 15, 2020, a day before it was expected to hit coastal areas of Nicaragua and Honduras. RAMMB / NOAA / AFP

Hurricane Iota was rapidly gathering strength as it headed towards Central America on Sunday, threatening to bring "life threatening" storm surges and catastrophic winds to a region still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Eta.

As of Sunday evening, Iota was about 539 kilometres off the Nicaraguan-Honduran coast, with maximum sustained winds of 145kph, according to the US National Hurricane Centre.

"Iota is forecast to be an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane when it approaches Central America," the NHC said.

Hurricane Iota was expected to make landfall by late Monday.

The storm approached as Central America was still coping with the destruction wrought by Hurricane Eta, which slammed into the region two weeks ago, causing flooding and mudslides that killed scores of people across a huge area from Panama to southern Mexico.

In Guatemala and Honduras, evacuations were under way in areas expected to be affected by Iota.

"We have to get out, we have to save our lives," Erick Gomez, a resident of Cruz de Valencia in northwestern Honduras, told Reuters as he prepared to leave. He said he only survived the flooding from the last hurricane by clinging to a tree to avoid being swept away by rushing water.

"We are afraid of what we just suffered with Eta, and we do not want to go through the same thing again," he said.

Iota is already a record-breaking system, being the 30th named storm of this year’s extraordinarily busy Atlantic hurricane season. Such activity has focused attention on climate change, which scientists say is causing wetter, stronger and more destructive storms.

Eta was the 28th named storm of the hurricane season, tying the 2005 record for named storms. Theta, the 29th, was weakening over the far eastern Atlantic Ocean. It was expected to become a remnant low on Sunday, forecasters said.

The official end of hurricane season is November 30.