National Hurricane Center warns that Eta, “extremely dangerous”; hits south of Bilwi

TODAY NICARAGUA  – Hurricane ETA made landfall south of Bilwi, in the North Caribbean, around 4:30 am this Tuesday, as a major Category 4 hurricane, with winds of 230 kilometers per hour.

ETA is expected to advance on Bilwi and reach the Mining Triangle as a tropical storm and Jinotega as a tropical depression.

#HuracánEta | Imágenes desde el muelle de Puerto Cabezas ante la llegada de Eta.
🌎 Más detalles en: https://t.co/Q9zYkDJajI pic.twitter.com/elC2YdjIFN

— LA PRENSA Nicaragua (@laprensa) November 3, 2020

The North Caribbean area and the Mining Triangle remain on a red alert; the yellow alert is active for Jinotega, Nueva Segovia and Chinandega and the green alert for the rest of the country.

The reports up to now indicate that there are no human losses, but material damages have been recorded such as falling poles, damaged roofs, flooding of rivers, etc.

4 pm EST: Extremely dangerous Hurricane #Eta is making landfall just south of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, with estimated maximum winds of 140 mph. For more information, visit https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB pic.twitter.com/MZfFsA6iGo

— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) November 3, 2020

The authorities of the National System for Prevention, Mitigation and Attention of Disasters (Sinapred) report material damage to homes, streets and power lines in that area, leaving at least 30,000 without electricity service

Guillermo González, director of Sinapred, indicated that they will continue to monitor, because “this is a process that is not concluded”, “the rains generate other problems”, “do not have the feeling that the emergency is over,” he warned.

Mined cancels classes in 1 706 educational centers

The Ministry of Education (Mined) reported, through a press conference in official media, the suspension of classes in 1,706 educational centers in the Northern Caribbean, Triángulo Minero and in the municipalities of El Cua, San José de Bocay and Wiwilí, Jinotega.

Mined counts that, approximately, “4,100 people are housed in 15 educational centers in Bilwi, the mouth of the Rio Grande and in Waspam.”

So far, the Mined reports damage to the school infrastructure of four educational centers, ranging from roof lifting, “earthworks” and “collapse” in perimeter walls.

ETA, a hurricane with a record

In 24 hours, ETA, the twelfth of this season in the Atlantic, has gone from a storm to a “major” hurricane, as category 3 and 4 as classified on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

It is the first time the ETA name has been used since storms are named according to an annual list, meaning 2020 is a record year in the Atlantic.

When the list is exhausted, the letters of the Greek alphabet are used and this has been the case this year until reaching ETA.

So far there have been 28 named tropical storms, of which 12 have been hurricanes, with the whole of November left until the season officially ends.