Life threatening Hurricane ETA to hit Nicaragua

Hurricane ETA that started life as a tropical storm is strengthening very rapidly as it heads towards Nicaragua and Honduras.

According to the Nicaraguan Institute for Territorial Studies (INETER), ETA is already a category 2 hurricane and if it continues strengthening wind speeds of up to 175kph are expected when it hits landfall in the North Eastern region of Nicaragua south of Bilwi at 7am Tuesday local time.

The National Hurricane Centre based in the US has warned of a life threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds, flash flooding and landslides. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

The Nicaraguan government has declared a red alert for the north east region, and yellow alert for other northern areas.

Emergency procedures have been activated at national, departmental and municipal levels co-ordinated by the National System for the Prevention, Mitigation and Attention for disasters (SINAPRED).