Hurricane Otto rumbled toward the Caribbean shores of Costa Rica and Nicaragua on Thursday, prompting evacuations in eastern coastal communities as people braced for the storm to hit land within hours.
At 10 a.m. EST, the Category 2 hurricane was about 75 miles (121 km) north-northwest of the Costa Rican city of Limon, blowing 110 mile-per-hour (177 km-per-hour) winds, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center.
In Bluefields, a city in Nicaragua's southeastern Mosquito Coast, rainfall began early on Thursday morning, with local forecasters suggesting the storm would hit around midday. By late Wednesday evening, local authorities had evacuated 600 people, with plans to move a further 7,000 into storm shelters. (Read More)
