Grief, Hunger Grow in Storm’s Wake

Grieving crowds jammed morgues and hospitals in search of missing loved ones here Tuesday as Honduran officials raised their estimate of the death toll from Hurricane Mitch to 7,000 in their nation alone.

Meanwhile, the onetime hurricane, which killed more than 9,000 people throughout Central America, advanced across the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, though its 45-mph winds were a shadow of the 180-mph monster of last week.

Weather forecasters said the storm, moving to the northeast, could strike the Yucatan Peninsula and then Florida later in the week with heavy rains--but not with anything approaching hurricane-force winds.

In Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, the sun came out Tuesday after a week of torrential rains, but authorities feared that the scope of the disaster caused by one of the worst Atlantic tropical storms ever could widen.

In Honduras, 11,000 people were still reported missing and feared dead. People throughout the country waited to be rescued from rooftops and islands surrounded with flood waters. Amid reports of increasing hunger among the survivors, officials raced to deliver food and water to survivors.

Honduran Public Works Minister Tomas Lozano said Tuesday that 1 million people had to flee their homes in this nation of 6 million. Countless more lacked clean water, food and medicine.

Most of the deaths in Nicaragua occurred when the crater lake of the Casitas Volcano collapsed, sending a wall of mud and debris onto several villages below.

Mayor Felicita Zeledon of nearby Posoltega said 1,950 bodies had been recovered by Tuesday, though President Arnoldo Aleman’s office reported 1,338 dead.

U.S. and local helicopters flew emergency missions throughout the day in Nicaragua and Honduras to reach people trapped by the floods.

The storm destroyed almost all of the highways, dozens of bridges and 70% of the national agriculture in Honduras.

That made it difficult to transport food and impossible to move gasoline to fuel relief efforts, said Col. Alfredo San Martin, air force chief of staff.

In Guatemala, struck by Mitch over the weekend, President Alvaro Arzu reported Tuesday that 157 people had died, 100,000 homes were damaged and 30 highways were blocked.

El Salvador’s National Emergency Committee reported 222 deaths, 135 missing and 50,000 driven from their homes by the flooding.

And Mexican authorities said remnants of Mitch killed at least five people in the southern state of Chiapas.

At the United Nations, U.N. ambassadors from five nations--Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Costa Rica--appealed Tuesday for international help to feed and clothe the survivors and bury the dead.

* CROPS RAVAGED: The agricultural damage will mean long-term harm to the region’s economies. C1

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How to Help

Southern Californians can help victims of Hurricane Mitch through several sources, including:

* The American Red Cross, 2700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles 90057, or credit card contributions can be made through (800) 435-7669; in Spanish, (800) 257-7575.

* CARE, 151 Ellis St. NE, Atlanta, GA 30303-2426; (800) 422-7385.

* Catholic Relief Services, P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, MD 21203-7090; (800) 235-2772.

* Save the Children, Hurricane Mitch Emergency Appeal, P.O. Box 975-M, 54 Wilton Road, Westport, CT 06880; (800) 243-5075.