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U.S. weather forecasters say Hurricane Ida has made landfall in the Central American nation of Nicaragua.
In an advisory (10 am EST) Thursday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida says Ida came ashore in southeastern Nicaragua off the Caribbean Sea and is moving slowly to the northwest.
Ida's winds had reached 120 kilometers per hour early on Thursday, making it a Category One hurricane - the lowest level on the five-level scale that measures a hurricane's intensity and potential for destruction.
The Nicaraguan government has issued a hurricane warning for parts of the region. Forecasters say the storm could dump from 38 to 50 centimeters of rain in eastern Nicaragua and parts of Honduras.
Forecasters say that heavy rainfall could produce life-threatening flash-floods and mudslides in the region.
They say the storm is expected to weaken later in the day as it moves over Nicaragua.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
