(31 Oct 1998) ++GRAPHIC IMAGES++
Natural Sound
Tropical Storm Mitch rumbled into the heart of Honduras on Saturday, spreading death and destruction throughout the impoverished country.
Latest figures Saturday put the death toll at 306 - mainly in Honduras and Nicaragua.
Hundreds of thousands had fled or had their homes destroyed.
Almost everything, like these houses, has been damaged or destroyed.
That was the word from Honduran emergency officials on Saturday as tropical storm Mitch continued ripping through the nation's capital.
The rising Rio Grande that cuts through this city of 800,000 invaded houses, washed over roads and threatened to tear down the four bridges across it.
Mitch's assault on Tegucigalpa has added to the widespread flooding nationwide.
Tens of thousands of people have been forced out of their homes and stores are reporting food and water shortages.
The storm is being blamed for at least 306 deaths, mostly in Honduras and Nicaragua.
For those who haven't been able to leave the area, the past few days have been devastating.
After blasting the Atlantic Coast for three days, Mitch pushed into the center of Honduras to the capital, Tegucigalpa, adding to catastrophic flooding throughout the country of 6 million people.
With rainfall of 4 inches an hour at the height of the storm, downed bridges, rampaging rivers, toppled trees and mudslides had isolated hundreds of communities where food, water and medicine were in short supply.
The strongest wind gusts were still hitting the north coast, hampering efforts to bring relief and to search for the missing, 260-foot schooner, the Fantome.
The U-S Coast Guard says it still hasn't found the tourist schooner with 31 crew members aboard.
The Antigua-registered Fantome, once owned by Aristotle Onassis, is operated out of Miami by Windjammer Barefoot Cruises.
After dropping its tourist passengers off in Belize on Monday morning, the crew headed toward Roatan Island, off the north coast, to escape the hurricane - which for two days was centered near that island.
In their last communication, the crew of the Fantome said they were experiencing 115-mph winds and huge waves.
The presidents of Honduras and Nicaragua have both declared a state of emergency.
Stormy weather isn't expected to ease for some time - local business leaders say economic losses could reach into the billions of dollars.
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