• Submitted by: admin
• Central America
• Environment
• International
• 09 / 10 / 2007

Hurricane Felix has left a trail of devastation in its path through Nicaragua. 100,000 people have lost their homes or have been injured, and the death toll which is already near the hundred, threatens to increase drastically, reports EFE.

The effects of Felix on the Nicaraguan North Caribbean, where it entered the country last Tuesday with winds of 260 kilometers an hour, have turned out to be much worse than first estimates.

The Autonomous Region of the North Atlantic has been declared in a state of disaster. It is rural and marshy, and in the current circumstances it is almost impossible the access the area whose population is approximately 200,000 people.

The authorities say 18,477 have been displaced and housed in more than 100 temporary hostels, 8,848 houses were destroyed and the communication networks have collapsed.

Of the almost hundred of victims (91 registered deaths), 52 are indigenous Misquitos who were shipwrecked heading for Honduras, where they sought to take refuge from the hurricane.

Source: Granma