Hurricane Eta

Hurricane Eta

Category 4 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Eta just before reaching peak intensity east of Nicaragua early on November 3
Formed	October 31, 2020
Dissipated	November 14, 2020
(Extratropical after November 13)
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 150 mph (240 km/h)
Lowest pressure	923 mbar (hPa); 27.26 inHg
Fatalities	175 total; 120 missing
Damage	≥ $8.3 billion (2020 USD)
Areas affected	Colombia Jamaica Central America Cayman Islands Cuba The Bahamas Southeastern United States
Part of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Eta was a Category 4 hurricane that caused major damage for parts of Central America in early November 2020. Eta came from a tropical wave in the eastern Caribbean Sea on October 31. The system organized very quickly as it moved west, and the cyclone peaked as a Category 4 hurricane on November 3. The storm started to quickly weaken as the system made landfall near Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, late that same day. Eta weakened to a tropical depression as it slowly moved across Central America before moving north into the Caribbean. Over the next five days, the system moved very oddly, moving through the Florida Keys, before moving into the southern Gulf of Mexico. Soon, the storm quickly moved across the Southeastern United States on November 12. It dissipated the next day.

Hurricane and tropical storm watches and warnings happened along the coast of Honduras and Nicaragua as Eta approached. At least 178 deaths across Central America have been related to the storm. Eta brought heavy rainfall and gusty winds to the Cayman Islands and Cuba. Parts of Southern Florida had to be evacuated because of Eta and other floods. 11 deaths were related to the storm in the U.S. Nearly $8 billion in damages were reported across all affected areas by December 2020.^[1]

Relief efforts for those hit by the storm were set up in several countries. About 2.5 million were affected by the storm, including 1.7 million in Honduras. Emergency Response Units were to help support affected people. People left homeless were moved to many shelters after the storm had passed. Donations worth millions of USD have been given to affected countries to help recoveries.

1. ↑ "Global Catastrophe Recap November 2020" (PDF). Aon. December 10, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.^{[permanent dead link]}