Catagory 5 Hurricane Iota to hit Central America

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Hurricane Iota, a monster Category 5 storm, was bearing down Monday afternoon on the Central American coastline after undergoing explosive intensification. Its outer bands were bringing rain to Nicaragua and into Honduras and threatening destruction on the scale of infamous hurricanes like Mitch in 1998 and Fifi in 1974.

Iota became the second-most intense hurricane to ever churn in the Atlantic basin during the month of November on Monday -- second only to the 1932 Cuba hurricane, which packed winds of 175 mph. The extremely dangerous hurricane was heading westward toward hurricane-battered areas of Central America, which are already in the midst of a humanitarian crisis following Hurricane Eta's deadly blow less than two weeks ago.

At 4 p.m. EST Monday, Iota was within 55 miles of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, a city home to nearly 100,000 people, as it slowed its forward speed to 9 mph to the west. AccuWeather meteorologists are forecasting the powerful system to come ashore late Monday, potentially just miles away from the area where Eta made its catastrophic landfall less than two weeks earlier.

Iota strengthened so quickly that its intensification places among the ranks of three other historic hurricanes​​​​​​​: Gilbert in 1988, Rita in 2005 and Wilma in 2005. Also, Iota became the only storm to strengthen rapidly with its central barometric pressure dropping by 1.8 inches of mercury (61 mb) in 24 hours in November.

Central America is still facing a humanitarian crisis following Eta's deadly blow. Millions are enduring dangerous conditions in the storm's wake -- with concerns over waterborne diseases and COVID-19 complicating recovery.

AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Matt Rinde said, “With Eta having gone through [the region] less than two weeks ago, Hurricane Iota will place another catastrophic blow to the region. No amount of words can describe the problems this system will add to the crisis already occurring in the area."

At the coast, an unsurvivable storm surge of 10-20 feet is expected near and to the north of where Iota will make landfall. Residents caught in this region as Iota arrives risk being swept out to sea by the rising waters. Some coastal communities may be completely wiped out.

Winds of incredible ferocity will also lash the coast. Wind gusts of 140-160 mph are expected near where Iota makes landfall, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of gusts to 180 mph. This will shred even well-built structures. Trees, power lines and any weaker construction will be completely destroyed.

Even still, the most widespread threat to lives and property from the new cyclone is expected to be dealt by serious flooding caused by feet of rainfall, much of which will fall over areas already ravaged by flash flooding and mudslides from Hurricane Eta.

"This may be one of the worst floods in some of these areas in a thousand years or more," Myers said. "Some of these countries may not completely recover for five to 10 years." He likened Iota's looming impact to what Hurricane Katrina did to the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005.

For only the second time in history, a second hurricane landfall is projected to occur in Nicaragua within one season.