Hurricane Felix and the Miskito Cays

On Tuesday, September 4, 2007, Hurricane Felix passed over Nicaraguan territory and left behind destruction and disaster. According to the official preliminary reports there are 198,006 people affected, 136 people saved, 102 deaths, and 133 people missing. However, unofficially estimates are higher. Due to the fact that many bodies have disappeared in the sea the exact death toll will probably be never known but according to survivors, authorities, and fishermen that participated in the rescue operations the death toll is high, possibly hundreds.

Among the most strongly hit areas are the Miskito Cays, an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea located some 70 kilometers northeast from Bilwi (Puerto Cabezas). When Hurricane Felix passed over the Cays it had not yet made landfall, and therefore hit with maximum force. The winds of the hurricane, with speeds of up to 260 kilometers per hour, destroyed the Cays completely. The only thing left are pillars that previously formed the base of the houses.

The night before the hurricane at least 800 people were evacuated from the Miskito Cays but others, unaware of the fact that a hurricane was coming, stayed at their houses, protecting their belongings. There were also fishermen that had left fishing a few days before, and there was no way to contact them. Some of the ones that were not evacuated were rescued, but many others did not survive Hurricane Felix. Congressman Brooklin Rivera reports more than 100 deaths.

This section in ViaNica is managed by the Miskito Cays Solidarity Committee (MCSC) who provide information about the situation in the affected region, with a special focus on the Miskito Cays. There is also information about the photo exposition that is organized by the MSCS and about the different ways visitors can help the people in the affected zone.

Information Center

The following sections are available to learn more about the Felix Hurricane, the damage it left, the photo exposition, and links to websites where more information can be found.

A word of thanks

The Miskito Cays Solidarity Committee would like to thanks all parties involved in this projects. Without the support of the many people and institutions our efforts would not have been as fruitful as we hope they will be. Our special thanks go out to the Rubén Darío National Theater for providing a superb place for our pictures, to QuickPhoto for sponsoring printing of the photos, and to Nicaragua's most important newspapers: La Prensa and El Nuevo Diario, for providing us the pictures of the situation after Felix that allowed us to set up the exposition. A great thanks to all!

- Miskito Cays Solidarity Committee

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