A family of eight living in this one-room house wait for aid to arrive.

"Most of the time we don't sleep," the family answers. "All we can do is just sit and wait."

The aftermath of a storm like Hurricane Felix, which last week tore through Nicaragua's Mosquito Coast with 160-mph winds, often can be more damaging than the storm itself. The 300 households here in Krukira, an isolated fishing village about an hour's drive from the nearest town, saw most of their homes flattened by the storm. They've been working hard to erect temporary shelters out of metal roof scraps and whatever wood they can locate.

But there is only so much a physical shelter can do.

"There's no water, no food," says one man. "It's hard."

Several odd sights testify to how far the storm surge came in. Palm tree trunks appear bleached white -- burned by salt water. A single conch shell sits in the middle of an open grass field, though the ocean is several kilometers away.

Felix's storm surges forced latrines to flood and contaminate village water wells.

The village relies on wells for their water and latrines for sanitation. When the storm surge overwhelmed this coastal village, both were destroyed. Now, contaminated water from the latrines mingles with the flooded wells. We see one woman dip her bucket to retrieve some of this putrid water to wash clothes.

"It's dirty, but I use it anyway," she says.

There are supplies coming in from the capital city, Managua, but the isolation of these communities makes it extremely difficult to get relief goods the "last mile" into the hands of those who really need it.

At a nearby airstrip, Operation Blessing has coordinated with Mission Aviation Fellowship to bring in 2-3 extra cargo flights daily from Managua. Nicaraguan soldiers carry 100-pound bags of rice and beans on their shoulders, offloading them into trucks bound for Puerto Cabezas and the outlying areas.

Nicaraguan soldiers help offload relief supplies from a DC-3 plane chartered by Operation Blessing and partner Mission Aviation Fellowship.

"We are working to break the logistical logjam," said Rich Danzeisen, Operation Blessing's director of international programs. "The Nicaraguan government just doesn't have the capacity to bring in all the goods from Managua to here, so we are happy to be able to lighten the load with these DC-3 flights."

OBI is also coordinating with Verbo Christian Church, based in Managua, to reach isolated families in Puerto Cabezas. Volunteers fan out through the countryside with blue and yellow bags on their shoulders. These bags contain enough food and cooking supplies to last these families for a week, until the infrastructure of the town recovers enough to support them. With the roads washed out, the volunteers slog through knee-deep mud to reach every last family.

"Thank you very much," says one woman after receiving a survival kit. "We need all the help we can get."

HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help by making an online donation toward OBI's disaster relief efforts. With your support, we can continue to provide emergency relief and recovery. Please make an on-line donation today.

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