Managua, Nov 17 (IANS): Hurricane Iota made landfall on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast as a dangerous Category 4 storm, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said on Tuesday.
In its latest update, the NHC said the hurricane struck northeastern Nicaragua on Monday night with maximum sustained speed of about 176 km per hour, reports Xinhua news agency.
Iota grew into a Category 5 storm earlier on Monday, but later slightly weakened to Category 4.
It made landfall about 45 km south of the Nicaraguan city of Puerto Cabezas, also known as Bilwi.
It is expected to bring more damage to the same region of Central America already battered by hurricane Eta earlier this month.
Iota will weaken rapidly after landfall and is forecast to dissipate over Central America by Wednesday, the NHC update added.