Within minutes the water was up to the 14-year-old's waist. "I went a little crazy at first, because I was scared for myself and for my friends," he recalls. Eventually Edgardo, who has lived on the streets of Tegucigalpa since he was 10, found a few of his companions who had been sleeping nearby. Together they made their way to higher ground and later helped to rescue five children stranded in a nearby building.

Hurricane Mitch has been especially cruel to children like Edgardo, Carla and Héctor, three of the several thousand kids who live on the streets of Tegucigalpa.

During the day they beg, steal or prostitute themselves for drugs. At night they take refuge in parks, under bridges, and in the thresholds of residential and commercial buildings, according to Alvaro Conde, national director of Casa Alianza, a Catholic charity in Tegucigalpa that has provided shelter and rehabilitation services to around 1,300 street children. "Most of what they get goes to support drug habits, either glue sniffing or, among the older ones, marijuana and crack cocaine," he said.

Even in the best of times, these children have never been welcomed in most neighborhoods. But following the hurricane, the streets have become particularly inhospitable. According to Conde, many of the street kids' most popular gathering places--open markets, parks and bus terminals--were either essentially wiped out by the storm or are now more heavily patrolled by police, who keep the children away. Even the damp shelter found under bridges--a favorite sleeping place for hundreds of children--was destroyed by flooding.

Rodríguez has noticed another change. "There is no food or money on the streets now," he said. "Everything is more expensive, and people are not giving anything away."

As a result, Casa Alianza and other shelters have seen a surge in children seeking help. "Many of the kids that have come here in recent weeks are saying that they're living on the streets because their houses were destroyed or because they don't know where their parents are," says Rebeca Perdomo, a Casa Alianza employee. "Others are saying that their parents don't have any money, so they are sending [the children] out to scavange for food and clothing."

After the storm, many veteran street kids asked Conde and his staff for help in locating family members that they had not seen in years. "They know that their families lived in areas that are vulnerable, and they are worried about them," says Conde. "Their experiences on the street have made these children very tough and stoical, but they are still just children."