Hurricane Eta (pronounced EE-tah) erupted quickly. The storm is strong and fierce. It is swirling over Central America. Forecasters warn of massive flooding and landslides. As much as three feet of rain could fall on Nicaragua and Honduras.

Nicaragua has 36 islands. Four of those islands have people living on them. For safety from the storm, the country’s navy carried families in boats from the islands to the mainland. People scrambled to stock up on supplies.

Eta isn’t the first massive storm to threaten Central America. One of the deadliest Atlantic storms in history was Hurricane Mitch. It slammed into Central America in 1998. Eta could dump similar amounts of water.

Hurricanes are ranked on a scale of one to five. The higher the number, the stronger the storm’s winds. Hurricane Eta is a Category 4 storm. It tripled in strength in just 24 hours. The United States National Hurricane Center says Eta might be a Category 5 storm before hitting land.

The alphabet is used to name tropical storms and hurricanes. Storms are named in the order of the ABCs. This year, there were more storms than letters in the alphabet! Eta is the 28th Atlantic storm to be named this year. Eta is a letter in the Greek alphabet. This is the first time the Greek letter has been used to name a storm.

God can stop the strongest storms. Psalm 107:29 says, “He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.”