Ida might approach US

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) - Former Hurricane Ida drenched Central America as a tropical depression Friday and forecasters said it had some chance of regaining force and heading toward the United States.

Ida had winds of 75 mph (125 kph) when it hit the central Nicaraguan coast Thursday, but it quickly lost force as it slogged inland and winds were down to about 35 mph (55 kph) Friday morning, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The storm smashed dozens of flimsy dwellings and forced 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.

By Friday evening, Ida had crossed over Honduras and moved back into the Carribbean heading north toward the Gulf of Mexico.

Ida was expected to regain some force over the Caribbean and the still tentative forecast track showed it grazing the Cancun region of Mexico as a tropical storm by Monday morning, then taking aim at the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The depression was centered about 65 miles (110 kilometers) northwest of Cabo Gracias a Dios on the coastal border between Nicaragua and Honduras and it was moving north at near 8 mph (13 kph).