what category was hurricane mitch
On October 18, still only a tropical storm, Mitch entered the Caribbean. At the time, the storm provoked relatively little concern, but by October 24, it reached hurricane status with the help of unseasonably warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico. By the next day, Mitch was a Category 5 storm battering southern Mexico with torrential rains. Hurricane Mitch then bore down on Central America, forcing the evacuation of 75,000 people from Belize City. As it made landfall, the storm began moving very slowly and unpredictably.