Hurricane Iota is taking aim at central America as a category 5 storm, the latest on record in the Atlantic basin.
The National Hurricane Center says Iota is packing top winds of 160 miles per hour as it tracks toward landfall in northeastern Nicaragua tonight.
"This is a catastrophic situation unfolding for northeastern Nicaragua with an extreme storm surge of 15-20 ft forecast along with destructive winds and potentially 30 inches of rainfall, and it is exacerbated by the fact that it should make landfall in almost the exact same location that category 4 Hurricane Eta did about two weeks ago," said the NHC.
After landfall, Iota is expected to rapidly weaken and should dissipate in a few days.
The NHC adds the Caribbean may not be done yet.
"A new area of low pressure could form in a few days over the central or southwestern Caribbean Sea. Thereafter, some gradual development could occur late this week while the system moves slowly westward across the southwestern Caribbean Sea," wrote a forecaster in the tropical weather outlook.