Hurricane Iota roars across Nicaragua

People living under precarious conditions make preparations before Hurricane Iota makes landfall in San Manuel Cortes, Honduras (Delmer Martinez/AP)

Hurricane Iota has torn across Nicaragua, hours after roaring ashore as a Category 4 storm along almost exactly the same stretch of the Caribbean coast that was recently devastated by an equally powerful hurricane.

The extent of the damage was unclear because much of the affected region was without electricity and phone and internet service, and strong winds hampered radio transmissions.