In Panama, rains and mudslides blamed on the storm killed at least three people, the Associated Press reported. Meanwhile, Costa Rica ordered the evacuation of 4,000 people from its Caribbean coast.
As of 4 p.m. ET, Otto was maintaining 75 mph winds, making it a Category 1 hurricane. It was located about 235 miles east of Limon, Costa Rica, and moving west at 2 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm, which is the seventh hurricane of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season, is expected to speed up Wednesday.
Total rainfall of 6 to 12 inches, with isolated amounts of 15 to 20 inches, are forecast across northern Costa Rica and southern Nicaragua through Thursday, and will likely result in life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, the hurricane center said.
Seas and surf will build to dangerous levels over the southwestern Caribbean Sea, AccuWeather warned. Winds will be strong enough to cause sporadic property damage and power outages later this week.
A landslide just west of Panama City early Tuesday trapped nine people, the AP said. Seven were rescued but two were pulled from the mud dead. In Panama City, a child was killed when a tree fell on a car outside a school.
If it makes landfall in Costa Rica, Otto would be the first hurricane on record to strike that nation, according to the Weather Channel. If it hits Nicaragua, it would be the latest landfall on record there.
Otto is the latest Atlantic hurricane since Epsilon in 2005, according to Colorado State University meteorologist Phil Klotzbach.
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