But perhaps nothing is so illustrative of the gravity of the situation in Central America as the dogs. And make no mistake, mud has become the common denominator throughout the region. Digging Out Beyond the confines of the airport, life becomes even more chaotic. Roads are choked with automobiles and trucks struggling to navigate through a city which lost 10 of its 12 bridges to the storm. The air is rank with exhaust and from the clouds of dried mud kicked up by the traffic.
Many pedestrians wear masks across their faces.
As one descends toward the Choluteca River, which slices through the heart of the city, the scene grows increasingly grim. Vast seas of undulating mud left behind by the rampaging river lie hardening in the midday sun. Mud is everywhere. Several feet of it fill city streets, the first and even second floors of buildings, automobiles and anything else that may have fallen victim to the hurricane's epic floodwaters. Workers hack and chip at the mud with shovels and pickaxes, and an endless procession of shopowners scurry between their gutted businesses and the river in a desperate attempt to wash and salvage their goods.