The death toll from Hurricane Felix which struck Nicaragua three days ago may run into the thousands, but accurate figures have yet to be established, according to Nicaraguan newspapers.
The daily La Prensa newspaper quotes Carlos Solano of the National Army’s Special Operations Committee as saying the figure might run as high as 3,000 because some areas of the affected regions have not been reached yet.
According to the paper, the river Coco has risen 11.5 metres above its normal levels and there are reports that some dwellings are already under water. There’s also a danger of landslides, it adds, quoting doctors as saying that wells contaminated by the hurricane could cause diarrhoea and dengue.
An improvised hospital in the affected North Atlantic Autonomous Region is already full and people in need of medical help have been being turned away, says the El Nuevo Diario. Most of the casualties are dehydrated, sun-burned and traumatised. Medical staff, who have been stretched to the limit, have run out of essential drugs and are having to resort to private pharmacies.
The country has so far received aid from Venezuela, United States, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama and Guatemala, according to the Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega, quoted by La Prensa. He also acknowledged that it won’t be possible to reach some of the remote areas affected by the hurricane immediately.
The paper reports the European Union has offered $1 million for the initial emergency response, which will be used to buy hygiene kits, food and drinking water. Japan will be sending $100,000 of tents, blankets, plastic sheeting and electricity generators.
The total amount of U.S. aid exceeds $200,000 U.S. dollars, but U.S. ambassador Paul Trivelli was keen to stress that it represents help for the people of Nicaragua and not the government of the left-leaning president.
The U.N.’s World Food Programme (WFP) has allocated $250,000 to the emergency and various aid agencies are supporting local partner organisations or responding directly on the ground.
President Ortega promised electricity and drinking water within the next seven days, La Jornada reports. But as he points out, the reconstruction will be long and difficult.
