Hurricane Ida downgraded, hits thousands in Nicaragua

MANAGUA (AFP) – Hurricane Ida unleashed heavy winds and rain on thousands of residents of eastern Nicaragua Thursday, causing flooding and destroying homes, before being downgraded to a tropical storm.

There were no initial reports of casualties.

Ida hit the coast as a category one hurricane at around 9 am (1500 GMT), before Nicaraguan authorities downgraded it several hours later, the US National Hurricane Center said.

The NHC predicted Ida would weaken further as it moved across eastern Nicaragua and eastern Honduras in the coming days.

More than 6,000 people in remote communities on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast were affected by the storm, rescue workers said.

The worst hit areas were Sandy Bay Sirpe, Karawala and Barra de Rio Grande, said general Mario Perezcazar, the army's head of civil defense.

Many took refuge in temporary shelters and no deaths or injuries had been reported, but there was serious material damage, Perezcazar said.

The situation was "critical" in Sandy Bay Sirpe, with almost 80 percent of houses destroyed, said members of local emergency services by satellite telephone.

Soldiers earlier evacuated more than 1,100 people in the region and erected 53 temporary shelters.

Ida first hit Corn Island, off Nicaragua's east coast, as a tropical storm, ripping up trees, damaging buildings and causing power cuts, but leaving behind no reported casualties, officials said.

Around 300 tourists were evacuated from the island the previous day.

Winds accompanying the storm traveled at 100 kilometers (65 miles) per hour, the NHC said in its 1800 GMT advisory.

Ida's center was around 125 kilometers (75 miles) north of the city of Bluefields, and 65 kilometers (105 kilometers) south-southwest of the town of Puerto Cabezas, it said.

The NHC forecast between 38 and 51 centimeters (15 to 20 inches) of rain would fall in eastern Nicaragua and eastern Honduras in the coming days.

"These rains could produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," it said.

Authorities in neighboring Honduras and Guatemala, further north, issued alerts for heavy rains.