Aid for victims of Hurricane Felix: The good and the ugly

I just talked to a member of the government of the Autonomous Region of the North Atlantic of Nicaragua. This person told me that there are problems with the aid being sent to the region. There has been an outpouring of good will and solidarity, and even in Waslala, one of the poorest municipalities of Nicaragua, we have gathered several truckloads of donations. However, I was told that each organization is distributing its aid independently to the communities that they work with. As a result, some communities have received no aid at all and are facing serious problems. Hopefully the Atlantic Coast will organize and this will get worked out soon. It reminds me once again how much of a “natural” disaster is really “human” disaster.

Walking through the countryside after Hurricane Felix

Yesterday we hiked out to the farm (without a camera). Quite a few trees have fallen over, and a cornfield we had planted was destroyed. It makes me wonder just how much damage is done by hurricanes that is never reported and never taken into account.

Photos of Hurricane Felix

A few photographs taken by a friend in the aftected area on the Atlantic Coast.

After Hurricane Felix

The sun is shining again. Electricity has returned to Waslala (although not Internet, the server has been taken away for repairs).

In Waslala, some corn fields were damaged and a few houses. What it did do was make us aware of where we are vulnerable should we be hit a little harder. The new ‘old age home’ gets flooded out by a nearby stream, as do dwellings built in old river beds, many houses are built on hills composed of loose dirt that will wash away and take houses down with them and bury others. We really need a process of analysis, training and planning to reduce future tragedies.

The latest news is that there are nearly a hundred dead on the Atlantic Coast. Crop damage, flooding and thousands of houses damaged or destroyed. Bilwi, Sandy Bay and Sasha are among the hardest hit. Palm trees are flung across the ground like match sticks. The process of rehabilitation y rebuilding is starting as is the process of mouring.

Hurricane Felix hits Waslala

At four in the morning, Hurricane Felix smashed into the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. With heavy rains and winds over two hundred and sixty kilometers and hour, it tore down and damaged thousands of houses, damaged electrical lines and left four people dead.

In Waslala, the rains started at eight in the morning and slowly gather force throughout the day and into the night. By the time it reached us, the winds had mostly died down. We lost electricity at about midday. One precarious dwelling on our street was damaged and one side of our neighbour’s latrine fell over.

The streets were eerily empty. Most of public transport did not leave, school was cancelled, and most people stayed at home to stay out of the cold rains and listen to the radio.

The rain still continues and the rivers are swollen. There will be flooding down river for a few days and there is still the possibility of mudslides.