Forecasters say Otto has regained hurricane strength in the Caribbean as it churns closer to Central America.

Otto had fluctuated between tropical storm and hurricane status earlier this week. But the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says Otto now has hurricane-force winds of 75 mph (110 kph) as it continues toward an expected landfall later this week.

As of 7 p.m. EST Wednesday, Otto was about 140 miles (230 ) northeast of Limon, Costa Rica — or about 180 miles (285 ) east-southeast of Bluefields, Nicaragua.

A hurricane warning is in effect from Limon, Costa Rica, to Bluefields, Nicaragua. Forecasters say the of Otto is expected to make landfall in that warning area sometime Thursday and reach the Pacific coast of southern Nicaragua or northern Costa Rica sometime early Friday.

An unusually Tropical Storm Otto swirled over the Caribbean just off Central America on Wednesday heading toward a possible landfall as a hurricane in Costa Rica, which hasn't seen such a storm since reliable record-keeping began in 1851.

Heavy rains from the storm were blamed for three deaths in Panama, and officials in Costa Rica ordered the evacuation of 4,000 people from its Caribbean coast.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the westward-moving storm had weakened slightly overnight down to tropical storm status, with winds of 70 mph (110 kph). But it said the storm would likely recover hurricane force and make landfall Thursday in the border region of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

The storm caused heavy rains in Panama as it moved roughly parallel to that nation's northern coast.

Jose Donderis, Panama's civil director, said a landslide just west of Panama City early Tuesday trapped nine people. Seven were rescued but two were pulled from the mud dead. In the capital, a child was killed when a tree fell on a car outside a school.

The country "faces one of the worst meteorological situations, with imminent risk," Donderis said.

Costa Rica's National Emergency Commission said it was evacuating 4,000 people from the area where the storm was expected to hit and where rivers could overflow. The effort was expected to involve evacuations by plane, boat and road in the low-lying coastal areas.</s>Otto, the tropical storm that returned to Category 1 hurricane status on Wednesday evening, has already begun affecting parts of Panama and Nicaragua. The sixth Atlantic storm of the season has forced thousands of Costa Ricans to evacuate their homes near the Caribbean coast.

Speaking Wednesday morning, President Luís Guillermo Solís said that evacuations issued for certain places under red alert were mandatory and urged people to not try and ride out the weather if they live in those areas.

“We are not going to allow the loss of lives for material reasons,” Solís said at a Wednesday morning gathering with the country’s security officials.

A mudslide and a fallen tree in Panama lead to three deaths Tuesday from high winds and rain caused by Otto.

If you have information, community news or photos on this developing story in the coming hours and days, please contact The Tico Times via Facebook or at kstanley@ticotimes.net.</s>Tropical storm Otto was forecast to become a hurricane again on Thursday before weakening over central America after landfall, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Wednesday.

Otto, which had earlier weakened into a tropical storm after intensifying into a hurricane on Tuesday, was located about 220 miles (350 km) east-southeast of Bluefields Nicaragua and was packing maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 km/h), NHC said.</s>The hurricane, which weakened rapidly after hitting the southeastern coast of Nicaragua, became a tropical storm by early Friday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, as dangerous flooding continued in both countries.

In Costa Rica, President Luis Guillermo Solis said late Thursday there had been a number of deaths, but added it was too early to say how many people had died.

"I regret to inform you ... that there are people dead and missing," Solis told a news conference.

Otto, the seventh Atlantic hurricane of the season, landed north of the town of San Juan de Nicaragua as a Category 2 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity, the Miami-based hurricane center said.

Thousands of people were evacuated from its path.

It weakened to a tropical storm, with top sustained winds of 70 mph (113 kph), about 55 miles (89 km) northwest of Liberia, Costa Rica.

Soon after the storm landed, a 7.0 magnitude quake struck 93 miles (149 km) southwest of Puerto Triunfo, El Salvador, at a depth of 6.4 miles (10.3 km), the U.S. Geological Survey said.

There were no reports of major damage from the quake in El Salvador, but local emergency services ordered the coastal population to withdraw up to 0.6 mile (1 km) from the shore.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega declared a state of emergency because of the storm and the quake, his spokeswoman and wife Rosario Murillo said.

Nicaraguan civil protection officials said the hurricane, which was moving west at 13 mph ( 21 kph), damaged homes and telephone lines but had not reported any victims as of early Friday morning.

In Bluefields, a city in Nicaragua's southeastern Mosquito Coast, rainfall began early in the morning. Hundreds were moved to storm shelters by Thursday evening.

"We left because we don't want to die. We love our lives," said 53-year-old Carmen Alvarado, who was hunkering down in a school in Bluefields. She was among the 206 people evacuated from the coastal community of El Bluff.

"The fear there is that we were surrounded by water," said Senelia Aragon, 42, standing next to Alvarado, preparing a breakfast of flour tortillas with beans.

Bluefields, once an infamous pirate haunt, was smashed by Hurricane Joan in 1988, a devastating Category 4 storm that destroyed many of the town's 19th century wooden houses.

On the Corn Islands, which face Bluefields and are popular with tourists, 1,400 people were evacuated to shelters, with 1,000 more moved from Punta Gorda, which lies south along the coast from Bluefields, local emergency services said.

Government officials said there had been people along the country's southeast coast who refused to evacuate, but the officials declined to say how many.

Total rainfall of 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm), with isolated amounts of 15 to 20 inches (38 to 50 cm), was expected across northern Costa Rica and southern Nicaragua through Friday morning.</s>Hurricane Otto is expected to make landfall in Nicaragua on Thursday as the surprisingly late-season storm brews over the Caribbean, just off Central America. Three people died in Panama due to heavy rains associated with the hurricane.

Nicaragua has closed schools and is carrying out evacuations for over 10,000 people from areas in the storm’s path, while Costa Rica has declared a state of emergency.

Heavy rains are expected to lash Nicaragua and Costa Rica on Thursday and Friday, possibly causing floods and landslides in their path. While people were being evacuated by plane, boat and road in low-lying coastal areas, Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis said the hurricane could damage the country’s coffee and agriculture sectors. Otto could also pose a threat to the coffee crops in Nicaragua, which are almost ready for harvest, causing losses to impoverished farmers in the region.

Otto “could seriously jeopardize food security for small-holder farmers who rely on maize, beans, cocoa, honey, coffee and livestock for their livelihoods,” Jennifer Zapata, a regional director for U.S.-based anti-poverty group Heifer International, said according to the Associated Press.

A landslide in Panama trapped nine people early Tuesday, of which only seven were rescued. In Panama City, a child was killed when a tree fell on a car outside a school.

The Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center reportedly said Otto was a category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour (85 miles per hour), moving west at a speed of 15 kilometers per hour. The storm was 100 miles north-northeast of Limon, Costa Rica, on Wednesday night.

According to Costa Rica’s National Meteorological Institute, a hurricane has never — since record-keeping began — made landfall in the country.

Here are some pictures of the hurricane as it descends on Central America, and the evacuation efforts being carried out:

Photo: REUTERS/Oswaldo Rivas Photo: REUTERS/Oswaldo Rivas Photo: Ministry of Public Security/Handout via Reuters Photo: Ministry of Public Security/Handout via Reuters Photo: Ministry of Public Security/Handout via Reuters</s>A strong earthquake off the Pacific Coast of Central America shook the region on Thursday, and could prompt hazardous tsunami waves, U.S. monitoring agencies said, just as a hurricane barreled into the Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

The 7.2 magnitude quake struck at a depth of 33 kilometers, some 154 kilometers (96 miles) south-southwest of Puerto Triunfo in El Salvador, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The Pacific tsunami warning center said "hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 300 kilometers (186 miles) of the earthquake epicenter."

Earlier on Thursday, category 2 Hurricane Otto hit land near the southeastern coast of Nicaragua, where thousands had already been evacuated away from vulnerable coastal areas and into shelters.</s>The storm was weakening rapidly on Thursday evening after hitting the southeastern coast of Nicaragua, and was expected to become a tropical storm by early Friday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. A hurricane warning was also in effect in neighboring Costa Rica, where fallen trees, blackouts and flooding were reported.

Costa Rica's National Emergency Commission said thousands had been affected by the storm and emergency alerts had been issued throughout the country.

Otto, the seventh Atlantic hurricane of the season, landed north of the town of San Juan de Nicaragua as a Category 2 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity, the Miami-based hurricane center said. Thousands of people were evacuated from its path.

It had weakened to a Category 1 storm as of Thursday night, with top sustained winds of 75 mph, about 5 miles southwest of San Carlos, Nicaragua.

Soon after the storm landed, a 7.0 magnitude quake struck 93 miles southwest of Puerto Triunfo, El Salvador, at a depth of 6.4 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

There were no reports of major damage from the quake in El Salvador, but local emergency services ordered the coastal population to withdraw up to 0.6 miles from the shore.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega declared a state of emergency because of the storm and the quake, his spokeswoman and wife, Rosario Murillo, said.

Nicaraguan civil protection officials said the hurricane, which was moving west at 12 mph, damaged homes and telephone lines but that there had not been reports of any victims.

In Bluefields, a city in Nicaragua's southeastern Mosquito Coast, rainfall began early in the morning, and hundreds were moved to storm shelters by Thursday evening.

"We left because we don't want to die. We love our lives," said 53-year-old Carmen Alvarado, who was hunkering down in a school in Bluefields. She was among the 206 people evacuated from the coastal community of El Bluff.

"The fear there is that we were surrounded by water," said Senelia Aragon, 42, standing next to Alvarado, preparing a breakfast of flour tortillas with beans.

Bluefields, once an infamous pirate haunt, was smashed by Hurricane Joan in 1988, a devastating Category 4 storm that destroyed many of the town's 19th century wooden houses.

On the Corn Islands, which face Bluefields and are popular with tourists, 1,400 people were evacuated to shelters, with 1,000 more moved from Punta Gorda, which lies south along the coast from Bluefields, local emergency services said.

Government officials said there had been people along the country's southeast coast who refused to evacuate, but the officials declined to say how many.

Total rainfall of 6 to 12 inches, with isolated amounts of 15 to 20 inches, was expected across northern Costa Rica and southern Nicaragua through Thursday night.</s>MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Hurricane Otto made landfall as a dangerous Category 2 hurricane on a sparsely populated stretch of Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast Thursday, becoming the southernmost hurricane on record to hit Central America.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the unusually strong late-season hurricane hit land just north of the Costa Rican border near the town of San Juan de Nicaragua with winds of 110 mph.

The center said Otto’s winds later weakened to 100 mph as it moved inland near the border with Costa Rica.

The center called Otto dangerous in part because of the heavy rains and storm surge it carries, and forecasters said it was likely to cross over land and enter the Pacific.

Heavy rains from the storm have already been blamed for three deaths in Panama.

The center said Otto will continue to move across southern Nicaragua and northern Costa Rica and is expected to weaken to a tropical storm overnight.

The Nicaraguan government declared a state of emergency, and said evacuations would continue because of the continued risk of flooding.

In Bluefields, Nicaragua – the nearest major town on the Nicaraguan coast – residents rode out the hurricane.

“In our house, we have packed up some things in plastic bags and we went out to buy some provisions, just in case,” said Bluefields resident Jean Hodgson. “But if we had to leave our house, we don’t know where we could take refuge.” The area is low-lying and easily flooded.

Further south – and closer to where Otto hit – residents in the smaller town of Punta Gorda said they were planning to ride out the hurricane.

“There is fear, because these kinds of things are scary, but we are praying and doing what the authorities have told us to do,” said Punta Gorda resident Sara Pantin.

Nicaragua closed schools and was evacuating more than 10,000 people from communities in the storm’s path. Heavy rains were expected to affect the entire country, raising the possibility of flooding and landslides.

Officials in Costa Rica ordered the evacuation of 4,000 people from its Caribbean coast and called off school nationwide for the rest of the week. Heavy rain was already causing flooding in some areas and the president announced that public employees would not have to work Thursday or Friday.

By Thursday, 16 government shelters in Costa Rica held about 1,335 evacuees. People often take shelter with relatives during such evacuations.

The storm caused heavy rains in Panama as it moved roughly parallel to that nation’s northern coast, killing three people there.

Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis said Otto could damage the country’s important coffee and agriculture sectors.

Nicaragua also feared damage for impoverished farmers and to coffee crops that are almost ready for harvest.

Otto was moving west at 12 mph (19 kph) and could re-emerge over the Pacific as a tropical storm before weakening to a tropical depression.</s>BLUEFIELDS, Nicaragua - Hurricane Otto hit the southeastern coast of Nicaragua on Thursday, arriving just before a powerful earthquake off El Salvador's Pacific coast shook the region and sparked warnings of a possible tsunami.

Otto, the seventh Atlantic hurricane of the season, landed north of the town of San Juan de Nicaragua, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. The Category 2 hurricane was blowing 110 mph (177 kph) winds when it hit, on the cusp of Category 3.

Soon after, a 7.0 magnitude quake struck 149 km (93 miles) south-southwest of Puerto Triunfo, El Salvador at a depth of 10.3 km (6.4 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey said. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said tsunami waves up to one meter (3.3 feet) were possible on the coasts of El Salvador and Nicaragua.

There were no immediate reports of damage from the quake in El Salvador, but local emergency services ordered the coastal population to withdraw up to 1 km (0.6 mile) from the shoreline.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega declared a state of emergency because of the storm and the quake, his spokeswoman and wife, Rosario Murillo, announced.

In Bluefields, a city in Nicaragua's southeastern Mosquito Coast, rainfall began early on Thursday morning, with local forecasters suggesting the storm would hit around midday. By late Wednesday evening, local authorities had evacuated 600 people, with plans to move a further 7,000 into storm shelters.

"We left because we don't want to die; we love our lives," said 53-year-old Carmen Alvarado, who was hunkering down in a school in Bluefields. She was among the 206 people evacuated from the coastal community of El Bluff.

"The fear there is that we were surrounded by water," said 42-year-old Senelia Aragon, standing next to Alvarado, preparing a breakfast of flour tortillas with beans.

Bluefields, once an infamous pirate hangout, was smashed by Category 4 Hurricane Joan in 1988, a devastating storm that destroyed many of the town's 19th century wooden houses.

Otto was moving west at 9 mph (14 kph), the NHC said.

On the Corn Islands, which face Bluefields and are popular with tourists, 1,400 people were evacuated to shelters, with another 1,000 more moved from Punta Gorda, which lies south along the coast from Bluefields, local emergency services said.

Government officials said there had been some people along the country's southeast coast who refused to evacuate, but the officials declined to say how many.

The NHC said Otto was the southernmost hurricane on record to hit Central America and should weaken as the storm moves deeper inland. Otto will likely become a tropical storm by Thursday evening, the center added.

Total rainfall of 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm), with isolated amounts of 15 to 20 inches, is expected across northern Costa Rica and southern Nicaragua on Thursday.

"These rains will likely result in life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," the NHC said.

It was not immediately clear what impact the quake had elsewhere in Central America. (Writing by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Cynthia Osterman)</s>MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Tropical Storm Otto headed toward the Pacific Ocean early Friday after dumping rain on Costa Rica and Nicaragua, where it made landfall as the southernmost hurricane on record to hit Central America.

Otto reached Nicaragua's Caribbean coast on Thursday as a dangerous Category 2 storm but it immediately began fading as it crossed land, becoming a tropical storm by nighttime. It was expected to emerge over the eastern Pacific early Friday.

Authorities in Nicaragua said the hurricane had damaged houses, but so far there were no reports of casualties. Earlier, heavy rains from the storm were blamed for three deaths in Panama.

Otto battered Nicaragua's Corn Islands with 3.5-meter waves and damaged houses but residents were all safe in refuges, said the archipelago's mayor, Cleveland Rolando Webster.

"There is a lot of rain, the sea is rough and the wind is strong. We have been in danger all night, getting cold and wet," said Alicia Lampson, 21, as she arrived at a shelter with a group of people from the village of Monkey Point, south of Bluefields, Nicaragua.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the unusually strong late-season hurricane hit land in Nicaragua just north of the Costa Rican border. By late Thursday night, it was located about 20 miles (30 ) north of Liberia, Costa Rica.

The Nicaraguan government declared a state of emergency, and said evacuations would continue because of the continued risk of flooding.

In Bluefields — the nearest major town on the Nicaraguan coast — residents rode out the hurricane.

"In our house, we have packed up some things in plastic bags and we went out to buy some provisions, just in case," said resident Jean Hodgson.

Nicaragua closed schools and was evacuating more than 10,000 people from communities in the storm's path. Heavy rains were expected to affect the entire country, raising the possibility of flooding and landslides.

Officials in Costa Rica ordered the evacuation of 4,000 people from its Caribbean coast and called off school nationwide for the rest of the week.

Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis said Otto could damage the country's important coffee and agriculture sectors. Nicaragua also feared damage to coffee crops that are almost ready for harvest.
Hurricane Otto makes landfall in Nicaragua, becoming the southernmost hurricane on record to hit Central America.