The Honduran death toll from Gamma rises to 37

The Honduran death toll from Tropical Storm Gamma, which unleashed torrential rain on this Central American nation over the weekend, rose to 34 with 13 people missing, President Ricardo Maduro said Wednesday.

The storm also killed three people in nearby Belize bringing the storm's overall toll to at least 37. On Tuesday, Honduran officials had set the death toll at 32. Gamma's rains and winds affected more than 100,000 Hondurans, damaging their homes, cutting off their electricity or leaving them without food and water, Maduro said.

Maduro said the government will create 7,000 temporary reconstruction jobs in Honduras' hardest-hit areas. The United Nations World Food Program has distributed 1,500 tons of food in the region, authorities said.

While Gamma faded on Sunday, the record-breaking hurricane season continued Wednesday when Tropical Storm Delta formed in the central Atlantic. Forecasters said it posed a threat only to shipping.

The 25th named storm of the season had top sustained winds of about 60 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Delta could briefly strengthen into the 14th hurricane of the season.

The record of 21 tropical storms and hurricanes in a season had stood since 1933, but it was broken this year. The 13 hurricanes so far this year also broke the record of 12 set in 1969, AP reports.

A. A.