Hurricane Iota is the 30th named storm in the Atlantic this hurricane season. Yesterday, it became a category 5 hurricane. The last time there was a category 5 hurricane in November in the Atlantic was 1932. Iota made landfall in Nicaragua early this morning, and is heading towards Honduras and Guatemala. Its path over the land is almost the same as Hurricane Eta, which caused massive landslides and destruction. People were already in shelters because of Eta, and now a category 5 hurricane is creating more damage and floods. And the pandemic is raging, making shelters dangerous.
Rachel Martin, a reporter at NPR, interviews Matt Hackworth from Lutheran World Relief, which has been involved in relief for Hurricane Iota. He describes the rain pounding the mountainsides, the storm surge coming up the rivers and flooding the areas where the poorest people live, and the government and relief agencies scrambling just to keep up with the damage from Eta, and now Iota will cause more. Our hearts go out to the people of Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala.
The NASA Earth Observatory notes that:
* Iota is the strongest hurricane and 30th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic season.
* This season has the most named storms since modern record-keeping began. (The previous record of 28 was set in 2005.)
* This is the first time that two hurricanes have formed in the Atlantic in any November.
* Iota is the 13th hurricane this year.
* An average hurricane season has 11.5 named storms and 6 hurricanes. This year we have had 30 named storms and 13 hurricanes.
This hurricane season has set records, with the most storms ever, the first time 2 hurricanes happened in November, and the first time in almost 80 years there was a category 5 hurricane in November. It is clear we need to take action to address climate change, immediately.
11/17/2020
