Nicaragua declares state
of disaster after
Hurricane Felix
Nicaragua's President
Daniel Ortega declared a
state of disaster
Tuesday in the country's
North Atlantic
Autonomous Region (RAAN)
after Hurricane Felix
killed three people,
destroyed 5,400 homes
and left 38,000 homeless
there.
Ortega called on the
international community
to help those who had
lost their homes and
harvests due to the
massive storm.
He said water, food,
construction materials,
medicine and general
supplies are needed.
Hurricane Felix reduced
from category five to
category three on the
Saffir-Simpson scale on
Tuesday, with top wind
speeds of 195 kph, after
making landfall in
Nicaragua where it
destroyed many homes.
Felix made landfall in
northeastern Nicaragua
at 6:00 a.m. local time
(1200 GMT) on Tuesday,
with wind speeds of 260
kph, making it a
category five hurricane
on the Saffir-Simpson
scale.
It has ripped off 80
percent of roofs in
Bilwi, the capital of
the RAAN. In Managua, a
hospital and a church
were tumbled, but there
were no victims as both
buildings had been
evacuated.
Colonel Mario
Perezcassar, head of the
nation's civil defense
body said that 13,000
people had been
evacuated.
Also on Tuesday,
Honduras' President
Manuel Zelaya offered to
send army helicopters to
Nicaragua to help with
the rescue efforts.
In Puerto Cabezas
airport, 500 km
northeast of the capital
Managua, the hurricane
ripped off the roof of
the main building and
brought down the
communications tower.
The victims included a
new born baby who had
died in a hostel in
Puerto Cabezas' Morava
Church, which is being
used as an emergency
shelter, according to
Rogelio Flores, the
deputy head of Civil
Defense in the North
Atlantic region. |
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