MANAGUA - Hurricane Iota, the strongest storm ever recorded in the Atlantic this late in the year, slammed into the Nicaraguan coast late Monday, bringing catastrophic winds and pounding rains to a swath of Central America still reeling from the destructive force of Hurricane Eta nearly two weeks earlier.

MANAGUA - The Nicaraguan coast prepared for Hurricane Iota Monday as it approaches as a "potentially catastrophic" Category 5 hurricane that will make landfall Monday night or Tuesday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.