Cayman Islands, Cuba in path of Eta after hurricane kills at least 50 in Central America

The remnants of Hurricane Etaunleashed torrential rains and catastrophic flooding on CentralAmerica, killing at least 50 people and turning streets into rivers in Guatemala, according to the country's president, Alejandro Giammattei.

In the Guatemalan town of San Cristbal Verapaz, locatedabout 193 kilometres north of Guatemala City, 15 homes have"probably" been covered by mudslides, possibly affecting some 75people, disaster relief agency Conred said in a statement onThursday.

Giammattei declared a state of emergencyin nearly half of the country's 22 departments earlier in theday.

One of the fiercest storms to hit Central America in years,Eta struck Nicaragua as a Category 4 hurricane on Tuesday withwinds of 241 km/hbefore weakening to atropical depression as it moved inland and into neighbouringHonduras.

In both Guatemala and Panama, several people have beenreported missing, while in Honduras hundreds of people arestranded on roofs awaiting rescue as water levels continue torise.

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Families waded through flooded streets of the northernHonduran city of San Pedro Sula, while cars sat almost submergedin parts of the central Guatemalan city of San Pedro Carch,television footage and images posted on social media showed.

Desperate for help

"The situation is serious. It's shocking and needs to bedealt with professionally, fast," Honduran President JuanOrlando Hernndez told HCH television, pointing to reports ofpeople stranded or stuck on roofs of flooded homes.

One unidentified woman made a desperate plea for help onHonduran television from La Lima, a municipality southeast ofSan Pedro Sula.

"I've got five children on the roof of my house, and nobody'shelping me to get them down," she said.

Damage and destruction had spread across the "vast majority"of Honduras, and speedboats and helicopters would be sent torescue people in inaccessible areas, Hernndez said.

Eta was moving northwest through Honduras toward theCaribbean, at 13 km/h on Thursday, theU.S. National Hurricane Center(NHC)said. Heavy rains continued, and the storm's top winds edged up to 56 km/h.

Eta is forecast to return to sea and regain momentum as atropical storm, possibly reaching the Cayman Islands, Cuba andsouthern Florida in the coming days, NHCsaid.