Even though Hurricane Mitch has been downgraded and international news agencies are losing interest, it is still causing major damage to nearly the entire country as the storm refuses to move away. Weather Channel updates now say the storm has weakened into a tropical depression and is now centered 25 miles south of Santa Rosa de Copan. The storm's path took it near the capital city of Tegucigalpa where it is still wreaking havoc as it picks up moisture from the Pacific and dumps it in central and southern Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Reuters reports that the storm continues to pour 25 inches a day on coastal areas of Nicaragua and Honduras.
Accounts vary as to the number killed.
Ham radio operators and others still able to connect to the internet have kept the lines of communication open and emailed frequent reports over the internet to the Hondo1 email list. These are personal accounts of people caught in the storm. Nevertheless, these reports paint a picture of the conditions more accurate than any weather report. All week long, ham operators have been assisting people by tracking down loved ones and reporting on their safety on Hondo1. Mudslides and washed out bridges are isolating cities and villages.