Hurricane Iota reaches the highest category, evacuations begin in Central America

Hurricane Iota strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane on Monday, hours before it hit Central America.

Iota is now being followed by winds blowing at 420km/h and is "dangerous to the lives" of Central American residents, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

This #MondayMorning, The #GOESEast 🛰️ is watching #Hurricane #Iota, which rapidly strengthened overnight. With sustained winds of 155 mph, it is a Category-4 storm, and could be near Category-5 strength before making landfall, according to @NHC_Atlantic.https://t.co/1L8q1zg4eW pic.twitter.com/bMWPOmJcuL

- NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) November 16, 2020

The hurricane threatens parts of Honduras and Nicaragua with "torrential rains", "destructive winds" and "dangerous sea level rise", US meteorologists warn, and that residents of these countries have begun to evacuate.

Iota is following the same path as Hurricane Eta, which devastated Central America less than two weeks ago, leaving more than 200 dead and many missing.

About 2.5 million people were left homeless, according to official estimates from the last hurricane. /Telegraph/

#Iota has become a category 5 hurricane and is forecast to bring catastrophic winds, life-threatening storm surge, and torrential rainfall to Central America. https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB pic.twitter.com/w6oof46Ley

- National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) November 16, 2020