Hurricane Iota has strengthened into a Category 5 storm, and the National Hurricane Center is warning it will bring "catastrophic winds" and "life-threatening storm surge" to Central America.
Iota, which is expected to make landfall in Central America on Monday, strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph, making it the first Category 5 storm of the hurricane season, CNN reports.
An advisory from the National Hurricane Center warned that "preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion," and the NHC also said the storm is forecast to "bring catastrophic winds, life-threatening storm surge, and torrential rainfall to Central America." The hurricane is located about 100 miles east-southeast of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, according to CNN.
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Iota is the 30th named storm of the record-breaking 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, which has seen more named storms than any other, The Associated Press notes. It's also "only the second Category 5 hurricane on record in November," The Weather Channel reports. Iota is headed toward Central America as a Category 5 only a week after Hurricane Eta hit the area as a Category 4 storm, leaving at least 120 people dead.
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