A man protects his beach house as Hurricane Eta approaches in Bilwi, Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, on Nov 2, 2020. (INTI OCON / AFP)

Hurricane Eta has strengthened into one of the Atlantic’s most powerful storms of the year, packing winds of 240 kilometers an hour as it roars toward Central America.

It’s estimated that this year’s storms have killed about 160 people across the Atlantic basin, and the numerous storms crossing the US Gulf of Mexico’s oil and natural gas fields have led to several shutdowns and evacuations

The storm, a Category 4 major hurricane, is expected to cause life-threatening storm surges, flash floods and landslides when it slams into the coast of Nicaragua early Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said.

Eta, forecast to dump as much as 64 centimeters of rain after crashing ashore, is the Atlantic’s 28th storm of 2020, tying a 2005 record for the most named systems in a single year. So many have formed that the hurricane center has used up all its official names and has resorted to designating storms with Greek letters.

It’s rare for Atlantic hurricanes to reach Category 4 strength or higher during November, Phil Klotzbach, tropical cyclone researcher with Colorado State University, said in a tweet.

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The storm was about 40 kilometers east of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, according to an NHC advisory issued at 4 am New York time. After it makes landfall, some forecasts predict Eta will reform over the western Caribbean and potentially hit Cuba.

While 2020’s Atlantic storms haven’t been as strong as those that emerged in some other prolific seasons, the year has produced a number of records, including 11 strikes on the US and six landfalls in Louisiana, according to Klotzbach.

It’s estimated that this year’s storms have killed about 160 people across the Atlantic basin, and the numerous storms crossing the US Gulf of Mexico’s oil and natural gas fields have led to several shutdowns and evacuations.

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While 2020 matches 2005 with 28 storms, this is the first time Eta has been used to name a storm. In 2005, the 28th storm wasn’t added until a post-season analysis of data, so this is also the earliest so many systems have been recorded across the Atlantic.