Tropical Storm Bonnie formed in the Caribbean on Friday as it moved toward Central America, amid forecasts that it will cross into the Pacific, where it could become a hurricane.
The National Hurricane Center of the United States (NHC for its acronym in English) reported that Bonnie was heading for the border region between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. It is expected to cause significant flooding, with rainfall of up to 200 millimeters (8 inches) and even more in isolated places.
It had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 km/h) on Friday night and was centered about 80 miles (130 kilometers) south-southeast of the city of Bluefields, on Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast. It is moving west at 28 km/h (17 mph).
Rain began to fall in Bluefields on Friday, and authorities said they had set up 50 temporary shelters.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega declared a “state of yellow alert” throughout Nicaragua, which implies the activation of disaster response committees.
The vice president and official spokesperson, Rosario Murillo, said that the government began evacuations in some towns in the Caribbean region to temporary shelters, and the Naval Force prohibited vessels from setting sail, not only on the Caribbean coast, but also in the province of Rivas in the south of the country and on the Great Lake of Nicaragua, areas that will be affected by intense winds and rainfall.
Many of Bluefields’ 57,000 residents began boarding up their windows in preparation for the storm. Many Nicaraguans still remember Hurricane Joan, which caused enormous damage to the Atlantic coast in 1988 and left almost 150 dead.
“We are already waiting for the impact of the storm, and praying that it does not destroy our region,” said Ricardo Gómez, who was 8 years old when Joan passed by.
The area was also hit in quick succession by two powerful hurricanes, Iota and Eta, in 2020, causing an estimated $700 million in damage.
In Costa Rica, authorities have expressed concern that the storm will trigger landslides and flooding in an area already drenched by rain for days. The government said that seven shelters in the northern part of the country are already housing about 700 people displaced by the floods.
A huge landslide interrupted traffic a week ago on the main highway that connects the capital, San José, with the Caribbean coast, and it was still closed on Friday. The government canceled classes across the country.
Heavy rains have also destroyed or damaged several bridges.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for the island of San Andrés in Colombia, and from Cabo Blanco in Costa Rica north to Puerto Sandino in Nicaragua.
The NHC said Bonnie is projected to resurface in the Pacific on Saturday, where it is expected to gain strength as it moves out to sea nearly parallel to the shoreline over the next several days.
The storm has been drenching parts of the Caribbean region since Monday, but it wasn’t until Friday that it met the criteria for a named tropical storm.