Hurricane Felix Damages 8,441 Homes in Nicaragua; UNICEF Provides Aid

Over 8,000 homes in Nicaragua have been damaged by Hurricane Felix, and many thousands more people have been affected. The United Nations agency UNICEF is providing various supplies and other assistance to hurricane victims.

According to a press release issued by UNICEF on Thursday, more than thirty-four thousand Nicaraguans have been affected by Hurricane Felix in the Central American nation's northern region, and 8441 homes were damaged. It indicates that these numbers have the potential to increase as statistics become available from areas which have been isolated by overflowing rivers and heavy rain.

Eighty-percent of Nicaragua's schools no longer have roofs, highways are being destroyed by rivers which have surpassed their banks, crops have been damaged, and power outages continue. The hurricane hit Nicaragua with up to 260 kilometer (161 mph) winds. The mayor of the city of Bilwi was quoted as saying that one community only had four houses still standing, and another appeared as if an earthquake had struck it. As of the press release, heavy rain was still falling.

As stated by a UNICEF representative, the agency intends to help the government to provide clean water, nutrition, and hygiene to Nicaraguan small children, and nearly $33,000 dollars worth of supplies were sent on Wednesday, including mobile water chlorination units. It is also cooperating with the Ministry of Education to set up emergency shelters and provide educational assistance. A team sent by the U.N. is conducting additional evaluation of the damage along with government officials, and intends to prepare requests for additional aid.

According to a Reuters news agency story also issued on Thursday, more than sixty people have been killed by Hurricane Felix, and the President of Nicaragua has stated that over two-hundred are missing. The news story indicated that Nicaragua's army and navy are also working to provide assistance to people affected by the hurricane. The web site of the Cuban newspaper Granma reports that ninety-percent of the infrastructure in the Nicaraguan city of Puerto Cabezas was destroyed. It also states that Venezuela and other countries have made offers of additional assistance.

Nicaragua is a small nation bordered by Honduras and Costa Rica. According to the CIA World Factbook, it was also badly damaged by Hurricane Mitch nearly ten years ago. People in Nicaragua have the third lowest income (per capita) of all countries in the western hemisphere.

Sources:

1. UNICEF Press Centre, http://www.unicef.org/media/media_40801.html
2. CIA World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/nu.html
3. Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0129218720070906
4. Granma International, http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2007/septiembre/juev6/37felix.html