MANAGUA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Hurricane Iota made landfall on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast as a dangerous Category 4 storm, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said late Monday.

It struck northeastern Nicaragua on Monday night with a maximum sustained speed of near 155 mph (about 249 km per hour), said the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Iota grew into a Category 5 storm early in the day, but later slightly weakened to Category 4. Its center made landfall about 45 km south of the Nicaraguan city of Puerto Cabezas, also known as Bilwi.

It is expected to bring more damage to the same region of Central America already battered by Hurricane Eta earlier this month.

According to the NHC, Category 5 hurricanes destroy homes, damage power supplies and most of the affected areas are "uninhabitable for weeks or months."

The NHC warned that though Hurricane Iota has weakened, its rain, with up to 30 inches (about 76 cm) expected, could lead to landslides and floods across the region.

Earlier Monday, hundreds of residents of indigenous communities on Nicaragua's northeastern coast near Bilwi were still waiting to be evacuated.

The NHC forecast that Hurricane Iota would dissipate over Central America by Wednesday. Enditem

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