Hurricane Felix is gone, but his devastating force left behind a trail of suffering and dismay in Nicaragua where at least 38 people died and more than 100 are still missing.

Entire settlements destroyed, children and adults smothered by tears, rescue teams searching relentlessly under debris, all fragments of a grim picture “painted” by a merciless category-five hurricane in the Central American country.

The most affected region was Puerto Cabezas where nearly every structure sustained serious damage and many of the buildings were completely destroyed by raging winds and heavy rainfall.

At least 50,000 people have lost their property after the second hurricane of the Atlantic season made landfall in the Central American territory early Tuesday, authorities informed. Indigenous communities were the worst struck, many people living there being killed or went missing after refusing to leave their homes behind.

“I no longer have anything… everything is destroyed,” are the few words people can say in the face of this calamity.

A state of disaster has been decreed by the government in Puerto Cabezas and the surrounding regions, as the country’s President Daniel Ortega visited the city and other regions along the Caribbean coast.

Rescue teams were still searching on land and sea for people trapped under piles of debris or swept away by huge waves battering the coastal areas. On Wednesday, a Navy crew managed to save 150 people carried into the open sea by strong currents, but dozens are still missing.

Poverty pushed people back into their homes as the fierce cyclone approached, most of them fearing they’ll lose their meager belongings. Some were able to survive the hurricane’s wrath, but were left without a roof over their heads or bare necessities.

Shelters are overcrowded and authorities are trying to distribute the insufficient supplies coming from the capital Managua. Humanitarian aid has to be flown in after most of the roads were blocked by uprooted trees or mudslides.

The government pledged to rebuild the 9,000 homes destroyed by Felix in Bilwi (the indigenous name for Puerto Cabezas). Power and communication lines continue to be down, authorities struggling to rebuild essential parts of the city’s infrastructure.

Preliminary assessments reveal that almost 90 per cent of Bilwi’s infrastructure was completely destroyed by the hurricane.

Felix continued its march towards Honduras as a tropical depression on Wednesday, bringing heavy rains and landslides. Almost 28,000 people were evacuated after forecasters warned rainfall amounts of 8 to 15 inches (200 to 375 mm) are expected in Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador.

After sweeping into southern Honduras, Felix weakened into a low pressure area and eventually dissipated, but material damage and loss of human lives continue to haunt regions in Central America just two weeks after another category five hurricane (Dean) pounded the Caribbean islands and the Yucatan Peninsula.