According to Nicaraguan officials, at least 60 people have died at the hand of Hurricane Felix after it hit the Caribbean coast on Tuesday.

The worst damage was bound to come as Hurricane Felix’s rampage continued. Meteorologists said that the hurricane would die down after entering the Gulf of Mexico but they were wrong.

The worse damage done by far was in the city of Puerto Cabeza, home to many Miskito Indians.

Thousands of homes were destroyed as the category 5 hurricane with wind speeds in excess of 260 km per hour along with heavy rains hit the city.

Security officials are now searching for people that might be missing at sea, swept away by killer waves, as thousand of other residents have remained homeless.

Nicaragua’s president Daniel Ortega has declared code red and advised people to take cover however, they can.

On Wednesday after the winds blew away Ortega toured areas hit by the hurricane, and said relief aid had begun arriving from abroad.

Ortega said international aid was coming from several nations that are sending airplanes with supplies, including Venezuela and Honduras.

U.S. military officials said they are working with Nicaraguan officials to provide assistance. The Pentagon said an assessment team had arrived in Puerto Cabezas, and two naval ships were standing by to provide any emergency aid the country needs.

U.S.-based relief group CARE International (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, an international humanitarian agency) International said it has a team in Puerto Cabezas to distribute food and clean water to 20,000 people in the area. CARE representative Rick Perera said aid supplies are needed to prevent serious health problems among survivors.

"If we do not get clean water to people there is a chance of outbreak of diseases," he said. "One of our staff in one of the most affected small villages said children are already starting to have diarrhea from drinking contaminated water."

Hurricane Felix also hit parts of Honduras, causing floods and mudslides, but officials expressed relief that the storm did not cause more serious damage. The latest storm triggered memories of Hurricane Mitch, which killed at least 10,000 people in Honduras and Nicaragua in 1998.