Hurricane Otto makes landfall in Nicaragua, weakening expected

The NHC stated people elsewhere in Nicaragua and Costa Rica should monitor the progress of Otto.

Otto smashed into southeastern Nicaragua on Thursday as a category 2 hurricane, but weakened rapidly and became a tropical storm by early Friday as it drifted deeper into the Pacific, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Otto, the latest hurricane on record to form in the Caribbean, roared across Central America, battering southern Nicaragua and northern Costa Rica on Thanksgiving Day.

Tourists stand at Juan Santa Maria International Airport before taking flights in Alajuela, Costa Rica, Nov. 24, 2016.

In addition, “the combination of a unsafe storm surge and large and destructive waves could raise water levels by as much three to five feet above normal tide levels in areas of onshore flow within the hurricane warning area”, it said. “We have been in danger all night, getting cold and wet”, said Alicia Lampson, 21, as she arrived at a shelter with a group of people from the village of Monkey Point, south of Bluefields, Nicaragua.

Forecasters warned of heavy rains which they fear could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, with up to 50cm (20 ins) of rain expected in parts of Nicaragua and Costa Rica on Friday.

The National Emergency Commission of Costa Rica said that it was evacuating around 4,000 people from the area and was expected to carry it out by air, water and land in the low-lying coastal areas.

Almost 15,000 people have been evacuated from the coast in both Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

So far, authorities have only confirmed other damage on Corn Island, where 12 houses were affected, of which 3 were totally destroyed, and other damage to infrastructure.

Otto was downgraded to a tropical storm late on Thursday but not before striking Central America at hurricane force, as an offshore quake also shook the region.

Maximum sustained winds had increased to 110 miles per hour with higher gusts, the center said.

In Panama, two people died from a mudslide and one was killed by a falling tree at the onset of Otto’s heavy rain, the head of the National Civil Protection Service, Jose Donderis, told AFP.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the westward-moving storm had weakened slightly overnight down to tropical storm status, with winds of 70 miles per hour (110 kph).

President Luis Guillermo Solis declared three days of mourning, starting Monday.

“This is the first time a hurricane has hit here”, said Faucia Pena, an inhabitant of Bluefields.

While there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the temblor, El Salvador and Nicaragua issued a tsunami alert for their Pacific coasts, and El Salvador ordered all people in the zone to evacuate.

Nicaragua also feared damage for impoverished farmers there; Otto could threaten coffee crops that are nearly ready for harvest.