MANAGUA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Hurricane Felix reduced from category five to category three on the Saffir-Simpson scale on Tuesday, with top wind speeds of 195 kph, after making landfall in Nicaragua where it destroyed many homes.

    The United States-based National Hurricane Center said at 1500GMT that the eye of the storm was 14.3 degrees latitude north and 83.2 degrees longitude west, around 65 km from Nicaragua's Puerto Cabezas.

    It hit Cabo Gracias a Dios at 5.55 a.m. local time (1155 GMT) on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast close to the border with Honduras as a category five hurricane, the highest on the scale, with winds of 265 kph.

    The nation's Civil Defense Organization said in a statement that the Northern and Southern Caribbean areas were suffering strong winds and rains are knocking down homes made from concrete, wood and metal drums and tearing roofs off. It says that more than12,000 residents are now in hostels in the north and 4,000 are in emergency housing in the south.

    In Puerto Cabezas airport, 500 km northeast of the capital Managua, the hurricane has ripped off the roof of the main building and brought down the communications tower.

    Also on Tuesday, Rogelio Flores, the deputy head of Civil Defense in the North Atlantic region, said that a baby had died in a hostel in Puerto Cabezas's Morava Church, which is being used as an emergency shelter.

    "We are trying to get more information on the causes of death, which is the only hurricane victim to date," Flores, a lieutenant colonel, told local media.

    One possible cause of death was diarrhea or drinking polluted water, he said. Local press said that hypothermia might also be a possible cause.

    Flores said that a fishing boat had been reported missing with 15 people aboard, but added that this information had not been confirmed.