‘Catastrophic’ Category 5 Hurricane Iota Hits Nicaragua (+Video)

Forecasters say it could be deadlier than Hurricane Eta, which killed more than 170 people this month.

The hurricane has made landfall near the town of Puerto Cabezas in northeastern Nicaragua as category 4 with winds of 155mph. It then quickly intensified and was upgraded to "catastrophic" category 5.

Videos on the ground show powerful gusts of winds crushing palm trees as torrential rains flooded buildings.

Reports by local media said that strong winds tore the roof off a hospital in Puerto Cabeza and did the same with corrugated metal sheets on houses.

Nicaragua is still reeling from the widespread destruction brought by category 4 Hurricane Eta, which ripped through Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras just two weeks ago, killing more than 170 people across the region and leaving many homeless.