Hurricane death toll passes 40 in Nicaragua

The death toll from Hurricane Felix rose past 40 today, Emergency chief Ramon Arnesto Soza said, and rescuers were still seeking scores of missing.

At least two people also died in neighbouring Honduras, where officials said Nicaraguan survivors of Tuesday’s Category 5 hurricane had washed ashore on beaches.

Residents began cleaning up piles of splintered wood and other debris today.

Food and fuel were scarce, even as emergency aid was airlifted into the regional capital of Puerto Cabezas, a town difficult to reach even in good weather.

The Category-5 storm tore apart flimsy, wooden shacks and flooded islands, forcing lobster fishermen and their families to ride out the storm on canoes, buoys and pieces of wood in the ocean.