Tropical Storm Gamma kills three in Honduras
At least three people were killed and 13 missing in Honduras on Saturday as Tropical Storm Gamma drifted off the coast of Central America, according to Honduras' government emergency agency.

Hundreds of homes were wrecked by flooding and mudslides as the government evacuated more than 5,000 people in the area of Honduras' northern Caribbean coast Friday and Saturday, said the Permanent Commission on Contingencies.

Flash floods in much of Central America, especially Honduras slowed the flow of emergency aid, said Luis Gomez, the country's emergency coordinator.

"People who are cut off or affected by the rains should ration water and food on their own because we won't get to them until weather conditions improve," Gomez said.

He said at least three Hondurans had died and 13 more were missing, but he had no details on individual cases.

Gomez said five major rivers along the Caribbean coast and in districts of lower altitude overflowed their banks, washing out bridges and highways and sparking flooding.

Tropical storm Gamma, the 24th named storm in a record Atlantic hurricane season, was drifting erratically off the Honduras coast Saturday with sustained winds of up to 75 km per hour and expected to strengthen slightly in the following one or two days, according to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Gamma was likely to stay out to sea as it moved past Belize and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, before turning west toward Cuba. It could reach southern Florida by Monday, said Miami Hurricane Center.