Authorities in Central America have recovered more bodies from landslides triggered by Hurricane Iota, which battered the impoverished region this week, the second deadly storm to roar through this month.

The number of reported deaths rose to more than 40 across Central America and Colombia, and the toll is expected to rise as rescue workers reach isolated communities. Most of the deaths occurred in Nicaragua and Honduras.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez issued an urgent plea for international help: “We are in a situation of great calamity and we need the world to help us rebuild our country”.

The strongest storm on record to hit Nicaragua, Iota struck the coast late on Monday as a category four hurricane. It inundated low-lying areas still reeling from the impact two weeks ago of Eta, another major hurricane that killed dozens of people in the region.