Hurricane Julia caused destruction when it hit the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua early this Sunday, in category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, although no victims have yet been recorded.
The 140-kilometer-per-hour winds tore off the roofs of homes, felled trees, tore down power lines and left some coastal areas without power, while the rains caused flooding in some sectors, local authorities reported.
Julia, which impacted near the Laguna de Perlas at 01:15 local time (07:15 GMT), did not degrade immediately after entering land, as expected by the Nicaraguan Institute for Territorial Studies (Ineter), despite the fact that its maximum winds sustained dropped to 140 kilometers per hour.
Since Julia’s impact, communications between the Caribbean coast and the rest of Nicaragua have presented problems.
Related news: Julia becomes a hurricane
Reports of Julia’s effects in the area are limited, as it is a region with multiple communities that remain isolated even in normal times.
The mayor of Bluefields, Gustavo Castro, reported that it was necessary to activate at least three shelter centers due to the effects of the cyclone in that city, the main coastal city in southeastern Nicaragua.
At dawn this Sunday, the hurricane was still moving over the forested areas of the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, and was 190 kilometers east of Managua, according to the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC, for its acronym in English) and satellite images.
Julia’s winds extended at hurricane force up to 55 kilometers from the eye, and at tropical storm force up to 185 kilometers from its center, according to NHC records.
Ineter expects Julia to deteriorate as it goes deeper into Nicaraguan territory.
The NHC expects the hurricane to maintain its easterly course, cross the center of Nicaragua, advance over the north of Lake Managua, and emerge as a tropical storm towards the Pacific Ocean in the extreme northwest of the Central American country, near the Gulf of Fonseca, where it would return His strenght.
The Government of Nicaragua maintains the yellow alert throughout the national territory, as well as the suspension of sailings.
