Managua, Nicaragua (September 13, 2007) - Save the Children USA continues to provide critical shelter materials and other items to families affected by Hurricane Felix in Nicaragua. However, the number of affected communities and households is greater than originally estimated, and thousands of children and families remain vulnerable.

Felix, the second Category 5 hurricane to strike Central America this year, pummeled northeastern Nicaragua on September 4. The storm - which affected more than 160,000 people, according to the Nicaraguan government and the United Nations - destroyed homes, schools, crops and livestock along the Miskito Coast and into the Nicaraguan interior.

"People are living out in the open, so the immediate needs of children and their families are for plastic sheeting for temporary roofing, clean water, and food. With support, we will continue to meet those needs" said Veronica Hernandez of Save the Children's initial assessment team, which traveled to the affected areas over the last several days.

Save the Children has already distributed plastic sheeting, 40 safe space play kits, 1,080 LifeStraw individual water purification kits, and other important non-food items to communities in the area. Over the next several days, Save the Children will provide hygiene kits and a weekly food ration to approximately 4,200 families around the town of Siuna.

The affected area is one of the most remote in Central America, and information is still emerging on the extent of the destruction and losses from Hurricane Felix. Damage to roads and bridges has hampered assistance efforts, with many areas still unreachable by both vehicle and helicopter.

Nelson Campos, who also serves on the Save the Children initial assessment team, said: "We went to one village with 140 houses, and all of them were uninhabitable after Felix. Lots of these houses had more than one family, so more than 200 families in just that community are without any shelter."

A fisherwoman in the coastal town of Wawa told Save the Children, "We feel like we have lost 100 years of progress because of Felix."

Over the next weeks and months, Save the Children will continue to work with the government of Nicaragua and other organizations to meet the long-term needs of affected children and their families.

Save the Children has been working in Nicaragua for more than 20 years. The agency also provided humanitarian relief and recovery programs after Hurricane Mitch in 1998.