Evacuations underway in Nicaragua, Honduras as Hurricane Eta barrels near | One America News Network

Nicaragua and Honduras were on Monday scrambling to evacuate citizens from their Atlantic coasts as Hurricane Etna barreled closer and the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned of flash floods and “catastrophic winds” in Central America.

The storm, a devastating Category 4 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, was expected to slam the northeast coast of Nicaragua late on Monday or early Tuesday, the Miami-based NHC said.

Describing it as a “major hurricane”, NHC said Eta’s rains may cause “life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds, flash flooding and landslides” in parts of Central America. Jamaica, southern Haiti, the Cayman Islands, El Salvador and southern Mexico may also be hit.