I was awaiting word from people in Nicaragua before posting this but have received no communication yet. News has begun to trickle in, such as this report in English (hat tip to Magnfico):
The death toll from Hurricane Felix rose to 98 today, with hundreds more people still missing. Rescuers working in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, pulled bloated bodies from the sea while villagers used canoes to search for survivors. Residents of the remote area claimed they had been given little warning of the hurricane's approach, leaving many fishermen stranded at sea.
Concerned from what I saw on the Hurricane Tracker web page that I always use, I did a web-search of several locales on the Miskito Coast a day before the storm was to make landfall and was surprised to find absolutely no reference whatsoever to the approaching disaster. The Miskito Coast (as those who recall the days of the Central American wars of the seventies and eighties will undoubtedly be familiar with) contains fairly isolated communities of indigenous peoples and other mixed ethnicities like the Garifuna. These coastal communities are particularly vulnerable to hurricanes.
Hurricane Felix apparently scored a direct hit on Puerto Cabezas on Nicaragua's Miskito Coast (it also affected Honduras). According to an earlier report the Red Cross had gone in ahead of the storm in anticipation of the impending disaster, so it was in a good position to report:
The mayor of Puerto Cabezas appealed for food aid to be sent to the region for evacuees camping out in storm shelters. (...) The National Red Cross is now collecting food, bottled water and clothing after appealing for help to the Nicaraguan public and opening two special bank accounts. Red Cross rescuers and volunteers are also busy with relief, first aid, comfort to the survivors and coordination with authorities. Latest reports say more than 12,000 people were successfully evacuated before Hurricane Felix delivered a virtually direct hit on Puerto Cabezas. The local Red Cross said some others declined to leave their homes.
An Associated press report sourced from CNN expressed the following:
Ninety-eight Nicaraguans were killed, Abelino Cox told the AP. Cox is the spokesman for the Regional Emergency Committee in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. At least one Honduran has died, an official told the AP. The bodies of 25 fishermen were found along Honduras' Miskito Coast, believed to be from a group of 109 Nicaraguan Miskito Indians who sought refuge in canoes when Felix hit, according to The Associated Press. Authorities rescued 52 Miskito Indians who lived on low-lying reefs and keys off the coast, said Honduran Congresswoman Carolina Echeverria. They survived the hurricane's deluge by grasping floating objects until help arrived, and bodies that could not be recovered were seen floating in the water, she said.
I will post information as it becomes available, but I urge anyone that receives information before I do to kindly post it in the comments section below. For the time being, the best bet is probably to channel your contributions through the Red Cross.