Cyclone Iota, which reached category 5, the maximum on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale, left at least 12 dead in the Central American region and Colombia, in addition to a trail of incalculable material damage, Radio Reloj reports.
Iota had maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour. However, there is still a danger of catastrophic flash floods and landslides in parts of Central America, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The Vice President of Nicaragua, Rosario Murillo, in statements to the press, reported that “we have lost six valuable lives” due to the hurricane.
In Nicaragua, Iota entered on Monday night as an “extremely dangerous” category 5 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 250 kilometers per hour, and has affected roads, schools and health units, according to a preliminary count made by the civil protection authorities.
In El Salvador, the National Civil Police reported a death attributed to the already tropical storm, after a motorcyclist died Tuesday crushed by a tree blown over by the wind.
In Colombia, President Iván Duque reported that Iota left a deceased person, a missing person and 6,000 victims on the island of Providencia, in the Caribbean, which was practically devastated by the enormous force of the hurricane.
In Panama, the passage of the cyclone caused one death in the indigenous community of Ngäbe Buglé on Tuesday, while in Honduras there has been a balance of three deaths so far.