Hurricane Eta in Nicaragua; Immediate Impacts

November 3 was Election Day in the United Sates, but on the Miskito Coast of Nicaragua it will be remembered by this Miskito boy as the day Hurricane Eta destroyed his home.

Puerto Cabezas is called Bilwi by Miskito speakers and simply Port by creoles. This is what is left of the Malecón, a popular spot for folks to go on Sunday afternoons.

Category 4 winds mocked the name of the seaside restaurant called Kabu Payaska (Ocean Breeze) in Port.

A drug store in Puerto Cabezas was destroyed even before the storm made landfall.

Bilwi street scene.

A woman tries to keep her possessions as dry as possible.

The coastal village of Sandy Bay is under water. 

Wednesday evening in Waspam. The Coco River is still rising at EMSERTA, the local boat ramp. Waspam sits on a bluff over the river. Thankfully, Waspam, our home and our friends there have been spared major impacts. Downstream, however, the villages are completely underwater. Although the houses, built on stilts, are not swept away, cattle die and ground crops are lost as the flood lasts for a week or more, and there is no clean water supply after the meagre rainwater storage capacity is depleted.

The video below shows the river at its headwaters rushing through Jinotega in the mountainous coffee region. These waters take several days to reach the villages where Seek The Lamb works.

 All of the above images have been afforded to us by friends and mission partners on the ground. Nutie and I are presently in the United States but are in constant contact with them and have even been able to send resources to local partners Fundación Samaria so that emergency relief supplies may be delivered.

I will continue to monitor and report on the situation in the days ahead.