Hurricane Felix kills 38 in Nicaragua, rescue spreads

NICARAGUA: The death toll from Hurricane Felix mounted to 38 and could rise further as search-and-rescue teams spread out Wednesday along northeastern Nicaragua, where the furious storm left a trail of destruction.

One day after it slammed ashore from the Caribbean, smashing thousands of homes, Felix lost all its punch, but the rain it dumped raised fears of floods and mudslides in neighboring Honduras. Teams deploying along Nicaragua's coast feared they would find more death and destruction as they made their way to isolated communities whose wooden shacks offered no protection from the 260 kilometer (160 mile) per hour winds the hurricane packed when it thundered onto land.

"We have 38 dead and it is possible that will increase. We must speed up (search) efforts," said Reynaldo Francis, governor of the impoverished North Atlantic Autonomous Region, the worst hit by the hurricane. In many areas along Nicaragua's Caribbean coast, the scene was one of desolation after the storm smashed thousands of homes, many made of wood and tin, and displaced 50,000 people.

The worst hit was Puerto Cabezas, an impoverished city of 40,000 where officials said 90 percent of infrastructure was wrecked. Debris of houses smashed up by the storm, downed power lines and uprooted trees littered the ground.

In neighboring Honduras, residents of Tegucigalpa heaved a sigh of relief as Felix, which weakened into a tropical depression, spared the capital. But authorities remained concerned the weather system could cause floods and mudslides in the north of the country.

On Wednesday morning, authorities reported 123 damaged homes and 10 landslides in Honduras.

Managua, Thursday, AFP