MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Otto strengthens to a Category 2 storm as it approaches Nicaragua and Costa Rica.</s>Hurricane Otto as seen at 1611 UTC on November 24, 2016 over Central America in this NOAA-NASA GOES Project image (AFP Photo/)

Bluefields (Nicaragua) (AFP) - An intensifying hurricane poised to strike Nicaragua and Costa Rica on Thursday with powerful winds and heavy rains that are likely to trigger dangerous floods and mudslides.

Packing winds of 175 kilometers (110 miles) per hour, Hurricane Otto was about to make landfall, according to the US National Hurricane Center.

Earlier this week, as it massed offshore, its outer bands of wind and rain caused four deaths in Panama, and there were fears of further casualties and destruction as it lumbered across the Central American isthmus.

Coastal conditions were mostly calm just before, with AFP journalists in Nicaragua and Costa Rica's major cities on the Caribbean coast, Bluefields and Limon, reporting little rain or wind.

Panic-buying in the region has cleared shops of bottled water, battery-powered lamps and plastic bags.

Thousands of residents in the storm's path have been evacuated, while those on the periphery have either fled or, opting to stay, covered windows with metal sheeting or wood.

"This is the first time a hurricane has hit here," said Faucia Pena, an inhabitant of Bluefields. "We are asking God to end it or send it elsewhere. Everybody is afraid."

Marie Rickey, a 69-year-old resident on Corn Island, located off Bluefields and lashed with wind and rain, said: "We're not afraid because God is with us and will look after us."

Both Nicaragua and Costa Rica have closed schools, mobilized emergency crews and issued red alerts for at-risk areas across much of their territories.

Costa Rica has declared a nationwide emergency, sending non-essential public workers home for two days and urging private companies to do likewise.

"Let me be clear: the hurricane is potentially highly destructive," Costa Rican President Luis Guilermo Solis warned in a broadcast late Wednesday.

It will be the first time Costa Rica has taken a direct hit from a hurricane since records began in 1851.

Otto was projected to slowly pass along the Nicaragua-Costa Rica border, a mostly rural path that would miss the two countries' inland capitals.

But the very heavy rain it was bringing with it "will likely result in life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," according to the US hurricane center.

Some Nicaraguans further south crossed the nearby border into Costa Rica, hoping it would be safer there, according to locals.

"We are doing everything necessary," Solis said, adding that there were no shortages of fuel or water reported.

The authorities have ordered the evacuation of more than 4,000 people along the sparsely inhabited northern half of Costa Rica's Caribbean coast.

But some were defiantly staying.

"Some people don't want to leave their homes, leave all their possessions, their animals," police officer Christian Rodriguez told the Costa Rican newspaper La Nacion in the village of Batan, close to Limon.

One woman who did evacuate her home near the village of Barra del Colorado, Teresa Romero, 52, told AFP that around 10 male locals had refused to leave. She was taking shelter in a church near the capital San Jose.

The high winds and heavy rains could devastate crops -- a big blow especially in Nicaragua, one of the poorest countries in Latin America.

Otto "could seriously jeopardize food security for small farmers who rely on maize (corn), beans, cocoa, honey, coffee and livestock for their livelihoods" in Nicaragua, Jennifer Zapata, a regional director for Heifer International, a US-based poverty-fighting charity, said in a statement.

Otto is a rare, late-appearing hurricane in the Atlantic storm season, which runs from June to the end of November.

It is also on an unusually southern trajectory.

A previous, far-stronger hurricane, Matthew, devastated parts of southern Haiti early last month, killing 546 people and leaving nearly 175,000 homeless.</s>A Nicaraguan resident walks along the "El Canal" neighbourhood before Hurricane Otto barreled through the region on November 24, 2016 (AFP Photo/Inti Ocon)

San José (AFP) - A hurricane that churned its way across Central America before sweeping into the Pacific on Friday killed at least nine people in Costa Rica and caused millions of dollars in damage, officials said.

In neighboring Nicaragua, officials reported no casualties but dozens of homes were damaged in low-lying areas.

Hurricane Otto had sparked red alerts in both countries when it spun in from the Caribbean on Thursday with winds of up to 175 kilometers (110 miles) per hour.

It made landfall in southeastern Nicaragua, in an area with national reserves that is sparsely inhabited, before crossing into Costa Rica, losing strength as it went.

Early Friday it headed out into the Pacific Ocean as a downgraded tropical storm. It should continue to weaken, the US National Hurricane Center said.

A Costa Rican police official, Walter Espinoza, told a news conference: "The number of people killed is nine. We have recovered eight bodies, only one remains."

Solis said the storm dumped a month's worth of rain in just a few hours in Costa Rica. Authorities said it caused around $8 million in damage to roads.

Aerial television pictures from northern Costa Rica showed water and mud in several towns, and small bridges collapsed.

Updating an earlier death toll of four, Espinoza said five of the nine people killed died in Upala, a town near the border with Nicaragua that found itself in the storm's path.

An Upala resident, Juan, told the Repretel channel he lost his son when rising waters tore away his home on a river bank.

The other four died in Bagaces, a town 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the capital San Jose.

In Nicaragua, the government's spokesperson, First Lady Rosario Murillo, said: "Up to now, thank God, we haven't counted any loss of human life."

Officials in both countries had evacuated the most at-risk areas before the hurricane hit, and closed schools and mobilized emergency crews.

Officials in Costa Rica said 5,500 people had been put up in shelters.

Nicaragua had 44 shelters operating for many of the 10,500 people who had been evacuated.

UN agencies and non-governmental organizations had supported the emergency response, the UN office coordinating humanitarian affairs said in a statement.

Early this week, as Otto gathered strength in the Caribbean, its outer bands of wind and rain contributed to the deaths of eight people in Panama, according to the national civil protection service.

On Thursday, at the same time as the hurricane struck, a 7.0 earthquake was registered on the other side of the Central American isthmus, 120 kilometers (75 miles) offshore in the Pacific Ocean.

Although the temblor prompted panicked residents in El Salvador's capital to run out of buildings, and briefly sparked tsunami alerts in El Salvador and Nicaragua, no damage was reported.

The sole casualty was in Nicaragua, where one person died of a heart attack.</s>A woman walks in front of houses destroyed by a landslip after Hurricane Otto hit in Guayabo de Bagaces in Costa Rica on November 25, 2016. The devastation killed 9 people in the Central American country.

After the tropical storm made landfall as the southern most hurricane to Central America.

Tropical Storm Otto killed at least nine people in Costa Rica and then headed into the Pacific Ocean after making landfall as the southernmost hurricane on record to hit Central America.

Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis announced that nine people had been killed in the area of Bagaces and Upala, a town south of the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border. Earlier, he said at least six people were missing in the nearby town of Bijagua.

Mr. Solis said as much water fell on the area in a few hours as normally falls in a month, and said some people had been trapped by rising waters.

The United States sent airplanes and neighbouring Panama sent planes and helicopters to aid in the search and rescue efforts in the area, where rain-swollen rivers overflowed their banks.

Otto made landfall on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast on Thursday as a dangerous Category 2 storm but it faded to tropical storm force before emerging over the eastern Pacific early on 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 (10-foot) waves and damaged houses, but residents were all safe in refuges, said the archipelago’s mayor, Cleveland Rolando Webster.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that by Friday morning, the storm was centred about 395 kilometres south-southeast of El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador, and had maximum sustained winds of 95 kph.

It was moving toward the west at 26 kph. It was projected to keep moving westward away from Central America, further into Pacific.

The Nicaraguan government earlier declared a state of emergency, but later reported there were no deaths directly related to the hurricane. About 400 homes in Nicaragua were damaged or destroyed.

Mr. 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.</s>Otto slammed into the coast of Central America near the border of Nicaragua and Costa Rica earlier on Thursday, dumping torrential rains on the region and prompting thousands of people to be evacuated.

"I regret to inform (you) ... that there are people dead and missing," Solis told a news conference, adding it was too early to say how many people had died.</s>SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – Tropical Storm Otto killed at least nine people in Costa Rica and then headed into the Pacific Ocean Friday after making landfall as the southernmost hurricane on record to hit Central America.

Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis announced that nine people had been killed in the area of Bagaces and Upala, a town south of the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border. Earlier, he said at least six people were missing in the nearby town of Bijagua.

Solis said as much water fell on the area in a few hours as normally falls in a month, and said some people had been trapped by rising waters.

The United States sent airplanes and neighboring Panama sent planes and helicopters to aid in the search and rescue efforts in the area, where rain-swollen rivers overflowed their banks.

Otto made landfall on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast on Thursday as a dangerous Category 2 storm but it faded to tropical storm force before emerging over the eastern Pacific early Friday.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that by Friday morning, the storm was centered about 245 miles south-southeast of San Salvador, and had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph. It was moving toward the west at 16 mph. It was projected to keep moving westward away from Central America, further into Pacific.</s>MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Hurricane Otto strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane as it churned toward the sparsely populated Caribbean coast border of Nicaragua and Costa Rica Thursday as an unusually strong late-season storm.

Heavy rains from the storm were blamed for three deaths in Panama. Otto was forecast to make landfall Thursday in Nicaragua, just north of the Costa Rican border.

In Bluefields, Nicaragua — the nearest town of any size on the coast — residents prepared to ride 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.

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.

No hurricane has made a direct landfall in Costa Rica since reliable record-keeping began in 1851.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm regained hurricane strength late Wednesday night after fluctuating between tropical storm and hurricane status earlier this week. By Thursday morning, Otto’s maximum sustained winds had increased to near 105 mph with additional strengthening possible before landfall.

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

Thursday morning, Otto was moving west near 8 mph and was centered about 70 miles north of Limon, Costa Rica, the hurricane center said.</s>At 6 a.m., Otto was about 70 miles north of the Costa Rican city of Limon, blowing 105 mile-per-hour winds, according to the U.S.-based National Hurricane Center.

The storm was moving west at 8 mph, the NHC said, and was expected to make landfall somewhere between Nicaragua and Costa Rica's east coasts later on Thursday.

In Bluefields, a coastal city in Nicaragua's southeast, 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.

On the Corn Islands, which face Bluefields and are popular with tourists, 1,400 people had been 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 had refused to evacuate, but the officials declined to say how many.

The NHC said Otto may well strengthen before hitting land.

"Weakening is expected after landfall, and Otto is forecast to weaken to a tropical storm by tonight," the NHC said.

Total rainfall of 6 to 12 inches, with isolated amounts of 15 to 20 inches, is expected across northern Costa Rica and southern Nicaragua on Thursday.</s>Thousands ordered to evacuate in Nicaragua and Costa Rica after storm strengthens over the Caribbean

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Costa Rica’s president has declared a state of emergency and thousands have been evacuated from its Caribbean coast as hurricane Otto strengthened and began heading towards land.

Luis Guillermo Solís urged vehicles off the roads and said hospitals in the most at-risk areas had suspended elective surgeries and were transferring patients elsewhere.

Tsunami warning after 7.2-magnitude quake off El Salvador coast Read more

The unusually late-season storm is heading towards neighbouring Nicaragua, which 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 on Thursday and Friday, raising the possibility of flooding and landslides in the interior.

The US National Hurricane Center in Miami said Otto was a category one hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140km/h (85mph) and was moving west at a speed of 15km/h (9mph). On Wednesday night, the storm was 160km (100 miles) north-northeast of Limon, Costa Rica.

It is forecast to make landfall on Thursday in Nicaragua, just north of the Costa Rican border.

Chuck Copeland Wx 🌀 (@NCHurricane_com) The National Hurricane Center 2-Day Graphical #Tropical #Atlantic Outlook: https://t.co/RftG75M6t5 #hurricane pic.twitter.com/EkqkfRTOFT

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. School was called off 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.

The country’s National Meteorological Institute noted that a hurricane had never made landfall in Costa Rica since records began.

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



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

Luis Guillermo Solís (@luisguillermosr) Detalle de alerta en todo el país pic.twitter.com/ESjrHtMagS

Panamanian authorities have released water from the locks and lakes feeding the Panama Canal.



Costa Rica’s president said Otto could damage the country’s important coffee and agriculture sectors. Nicaragua also feared Otto could threaten coffee crops that are almost ready for harvest, placing further pressure on impoverished farmers.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Red Cross members help people prepare to be evacuated as Otto approaches in Barra de Colorado, Costa Rica, on Wednesday. Photograph: Reuters

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

Associated Press contributed to this report</s>Hurricane Otto has strengthened to a category two storm as it approaches the sparsely populated Caribbean border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica as an unusually strong late-season event.

Heavy rains from the storm were blamed for three deaths in Panama, and Otto was forecast to make landfall in Nicaragua on Thursday, just north of the Costa Rican border.

Officials in Costa Rica ordered the evacuation of 4,000 people from its Caribbean coast and closed schools nationwide for the rest of the week. Heavy rain has already caused flooding in some areas and the Costa Rican president, Luis Guillermo Solís, announced that public employees would not have to work on Thursday or Friday.

The country’s National Meteorological Institute noted that a hurricane had never made landfall in Costa Rica since records began.

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

The US National Hurricane Center said the storm had regained hurricane strength late on Wednesday night after fluctuating between tropical storm and hurricane status earlier in the week. By Thursday morning, Otto’s maximum sustained winds had increased to nearly 105mph (165km/h) with additional strengthening possible before landfall.

Solís 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 to harvest.
Costa Rica declares a national emergency as Hurricane Otto prepares to make landfall after killing at least three people in Panama.