Nicaragua's president
visits hurricane-ravaged
area
Nicaragua's President
Daniel Ortega on
Wednesday visited the
northern Caribbean coast
area devastated by
Hurricane Felix.
Ortega called on the
media not to report a
specific death toll,
because even though more
than a hundred people
are now reported
missing, at least 115
people have been
rescued.
"I call on the media not
to specify a number," he
said. "We know there are
more deaths than
official figures, but we
have to give people hope
because many people have
been rescued."
He promised the families
of the missing that
Nicaraguan army boats
and planes are
intensifying their
search in Nicaragua's
Caribbean archipelago.
During his tour, Ortega
received a message from
his Honduran counterpart
Manuel Zelaya that he
would send a planeload
of emergency aid.
Ortega had previously
announced that Venezuela
would send tons of metal
roofing, food, drinking
water and emergency
supplies.
The emergency aid sent
by the United States,
Panama and several
international
organizations is
reaching Nicaragua's
North Atlantic
Autonomous Region, which
declared a state of
disaster on Tuesday.
Official figures say
that 38,000 people have
suffered in some way,
13,000 are homeless and
nearly 6,000 homes have
been severely damaged.
Earlier on Wednesday the
nation's civil defense
authority said it had
found nine bodies, but
the figure would rise as
rescuers penetrated the
mountainous region on
Nicaragua's northern
Caribbean coast.
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.
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