Ida Batters Nicaragua And Then Weakens

Ida weakened back into a tropical storm on Thursday after ripping into Nicaragua's Atlantic coast, completely destroying several dozen homes and forcing the evacuation of more than 3,000 people.

Ida, clocking seventy-five mph winds, struck land around sunrise in Tasbapauni, about sixty miles northeast of Bluefields. A few hours later it had weakened to sixty-five mph winds, which puts it below Category 1 hurricane status.

About 80 percent of homes were destroyed in nearby Karawala, a fishing village of about 100 flimsy, wooden shacks, said Mario Perez Nicaragua's National Civil Defense director.

No deaths or injuries have been reported at this time, but Perez says that officials are still trying to get information from the region where the storm knocked out power and telephone service.

Ida was moving to the northwest at six mph and could dump as much as twenty inches of rain in parts as it crosses eastern Nicaragua, with the risk of flash floods and mudslides, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center.

The storm could also raise coastal water levels by as much as three feet above ground level, with dangerous waves.

More than 3,000 people had been evacuated — 800 of those from flimsy, makeshift homes on Corn Island and nearby Little Corn Island, where strong winds damaged about forty-five homes, smashed boats, toppled trees and knocked out power. Residents were taken to the port authority building and concrete hotels.

"We are expecting serious impact on infrastructure," Perez said.

About 2,500 people live on the two islands, which are popular tourist destinations.

Rowena Kandler, owner of the Sunrise Hotel on Corn Island, said many fruit trees on the hotel's 13-acre ranch were damaged.

"We don't have electricity or water," she said. "Everything is on the ground now. Thank God we're alive."

The hotel had two guests who rode out the storm Wednesday night, but Kandler said they left for the airport Thursday morning.

More than 1,000 people were evacuated in Bluefields and then the airport was closed.

At the Oasis Hotel and Casino, located half a block from the coast in Bluefields, receptionist Adelis Molina said winds were strong and guests from the United States, Italy and Guatemala were hunkering down inside.

Coffee producers, just starting a new harvest, are watching weather developments closely, but say their crops in the mountainous regions near the Honduran border are thankfully far from strong coastal winds.