November 7, 2009 Hurricane Ida drenches Central America Play video

(NECN/APTV/CH 100: Wawachan, Nicaragua) - Nicaragua's Health Ministry on Friday sent medical supplies to areas badly hit by Hurricane Ida.

Amateur video obtained by The Associated Press shows Ida lashing the remote area with heavy rain and wind.

The storm hit the central American country's coast on Thursday, smashing scores of flimsy dwellings and forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes in sparsely populated eastern Nicaragua.

Bridges, schools and electrical transmission towers were damaged, but no deaths were reported.

Amateur video obtained by The Associated Press shows Ida lashing the remote area with heavy rain and wind.

On Friday in Managua, troops loaded medicine on a helicopter set to fly into damaged areas.

"We are carrying medicine for pneumonia, for diarrhea, respiratory problems, skin conditions," said Nora Orosco, Health Ministry Supplies Coordinator.

Hurricane Ida, drenched Central America as a tropical depression on Friday and forecasters said it had some chance of regaining force and heading toward the U.S.

Ida packed winds of 75 miles per hour when it hit the central Nicaraguan coast on Thursday, but it quickly lost force as it slogged inland and winds were down to about 35 mph by Friday morning, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.