[NYTr] Nicaragua Declared in a State of Disaster after Intense Rains

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Prensa Latina via Granma Daily - Oct 20, 2007
http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/english/news/art05.html


State of Disaster in Nicaragua after intense rains

MANAGUA, October 19.— The president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, on
Friday, decreed the whole country in a state of disaster. This is a
result of the serious damage caused by the meteorological phenomena
which have affected the country for the last 47 days.

Ortega signed the document after listening to an itemized report of the
affectations that began in there on September 4, when Hurricane Felix
devastated the north end of the Atlantic Coast.

At the meeting was a delegation from the Government of Venezuela,
headed by the Foreign Minister, Nicolas Maduro.

The Venezuelan mission arrived in Nicaragua Friday morning to evaluate
the magnitude of the damage, and to determine the best possible way to
help those affected.

47 days after the emergency began, the official figures for the whole
of Nicaragua are 109 dead, 133 people missing, 216,000 victims of the
damage, more than 22,000 houses affected, and 3,000 kilometers of
roadways destroyed. (PL)