Hurricane Joan's passage westward across Nicaragua is a story of
extremes. Joan built up strength as it moved across the
Caribbean Sea until it came ashore at the town of Bluefields on
Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast. The hurricane threw everything it
had at Bluefields and Corn Island. Now there is nothing left of
either community. The material damage left in the hurricane's
wake is more than that left by the 1972 earthquake, more than
that wrought by Somoza's bombing of the cities during the 1979
insurrection, more than that inflicted by seven years of contra
war. And Nicaraguans, who have almost nothing, are giving
everything they can. While it is an exaggeration to say
Nicaraguans have given the shirts off their backs, it may not be
exaggerated to say that many Nicaraguans have each given their
only spare shirt. The Tuesday after the weekend disaster young
men from the disabled veterans organization arrived at a Red
Cross post with 17 pairs of church. Two children showed up at a
church in the poor neighborhood