Hurricane Felix leaves devastating trail of destruction in the Northern Atlantic Coast region of Nicaragua

Appeal for funds (17/09/07)


Photo: Damage to the Maureen Courtney school, the only special needs school in the region. Credit: Marina Stiegel



Category five Hurricane Felix made landfall at 4.45am on Tuesday 5 September, at Sandy Bay in Nicaragua’s Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region.
It caused widespread destruction in the region's capital Bilwi (Puerto Cabezas) and even worse devastation in rural communities in one of the most remote and impoverished areas of Nicaragua. According to the Nicaraguan System for the Attention, Mitigation and Prevention of disasters (SINAPRED) an estimated 100,000 people have been affected, including 101 killed and a further 105 reported missing. 7,945 houses and 90% to 100% of crops have been destroyed. With the widespread contamination of wells and the rapid increase in the number of mosquitoes in flooded areas, urgent measures are essential to prevent outbreaks of deadly diseases such as malaria, dengue and leptospirosis.

Marina Spiegel, a lecturer at London’s South Bank university, was in the region at the time of the hurricane working with URACCAN. She reports: ‘the damage to the already very fragile infrastructure will have wide-ranging effects…. there is also immense damage to the ecosystems. On a psychological level, it is hard to imagine the impact: loss of people, loss of belongings that took years of effort to accumulate, loss of schools, loss of crops. Communities over a wide area are affected, from Bilwi to Rosita, north to Waspam and eastwards to the mouth of the Rio Coco. This extremely impoverished area of Nicaragua faces a harsh future, unless emergency relief is swift, coordinated and uncompromising...’

The following are extracts from Marina’s diary:

Bilwi Tuesday 4 September
The hurricane … was very frightening, I have never experienced anything like it. The windows blew in, the zinc roofing over the kitchen was ripped off like small pieces of sticking plaster coming off a child’s knee. The tall eucalyptus and coconut trees came crashing down. The house is flooded, the mess is awful but we are all grateful to be in one piece.

Wednesday 5 September
We go out to see the damage. I see many buildings with damaged roofs, some parts of the city are flooded, trees uprooted everywhere……electricity poles ripped out of the ground, cables dangling. The only school for children with learning difficulties and special classes for deaf students has no roof; books and materials lie in sodden muddy piles. Many of the teachers are helping to clean up, chopping branches from fallen trees, trying to unblock the road, hunting for pieces of zinc. People tell me of lost relatives, a deaf student missing at sea; the parents of another student are also missing.

The sound of a helicopter takes us to the pier … we join hundreds of people waiting for news of relatives and friends who have disappeared at sea. Over 50 bodies have already been found. I watch as body bags are taken out of the helicopter. People around me weep.

At midday it starts to rain, heavily. I join colleagues heading to the Bilwi campus of the university URACCAN, seven km out of the city. We listen to the radio, the news is awful, many dead in the Cayos and Sandy Bay … in Krukira only 4 houses remain standing, Tuapi is flooded and all the roofs have gone. There is no water; many villages on higher ground are cut off. The ferry across the river Wawa has been swept away cutting off the only road route to the other side of the country. All emergency supplies will have to be flown in.

The university, a temporary refuge for many residents, has been badly affected. Most of the rooms and dormitories have had their roofs wrenched off. Everything is drenched. The internet antenna has snapped in two. All the power lines are down; there is no water.

Yet despite the difficulties, the University pulls together and sets about rescuing what is rescuable. URACCAN is a community university, outreach is one of its priorities. A simple meal is prepared, cooking with gas and wood. That first day they feed 120 people who walk in from the communities. They will continue to feed the inhabitants for as long as they are able to.

A small group of us set out to Tuapí and Santa Marta to see what we can do. These two small communities are badly, badly damaged. We saw children suffering from dehydration, many had not eaten for 24 hours. Houses in ruins, people crying, asking for help. We have brought fresh water and make a maize and milk drink for the children. We sit and listen to people telling their accounts of how they survived. There is real bewilderment, shock and trauma.

How your donations will be used
The Nicaraguan government has declared a state of emergency and is working with UN agencies, NGOs and donor countries to co-ordinate emergency efforts. Nicaraguans have shown massive solidarity through donations of funds and materials. President Ortega announced that millions of US dollars are needed to guarantee immediate needs of water, water purifying equipment, food, blankets, plastic sheeting, corrugated metal roofing for temporary shelter, and medicines. There are also long-term needs to be addressed. The funds you donate will go to URRACAN, the Atlantic Coast university, who are providing crucial support to rural communities in the worst affected areas of the region. NSC has had links with URRACAN for many years.


TO MAKE A DONATION click here >>