Sandro Mejía has been living in San Pedro Sula for 20 years, but now sees no other option than to seek a better life in the United States. Otherwise, we'll assume you're OK to continue. According to Global Witness, 14 environmental defenders were murdered there last year, the highest per capita rate in the world. The stench of mud and dead animals lingers everywhere. Iota killed at least 16 people in Nicaragua and a dozen or more in Honduras, according to the Associated Press, just weeks after 130 people died during Eta in Central America. He says he almost drowned when the water first began to rise. In Honduras, COVID-19 has hit very hard, with many people losing their jobs, food and medications becoming scarce, and prices skyrocketing. Iota expected to form by Sunday; likely to cause catastrophic rains in Nicaragua and Honduras By Jeff Masters, Ph.D. | Nov 13, 2020 Twenty to 30 inches of rain is predicted for the region, where the devastating Hurricane Eta made landfall just 10 days ago. 12.Jan.2021. Two weeks later, it’s still raining hard and the family remains in the funeral home, without any support from the state. Marlon Matute, of representative of the San Pedro Sula mayor’s office, affirms that the local government has opened 100 municipal shelter across the city and is providing financial support, food and hygiene products to those affected. We’re all scared... it’s the worst thing we’ve ever been through.”. There’s no work. “I came racing out with my four children when the water started to rise at eight in the evening,” says López, who had to later to separate from his family to look after their livestock. — Hundreds of thousands of displaced people now line the streets of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, after Hurricane Eta’s slow-moving rains triggered devastating flooding and landslides. “The water was rising to the rooftop,” said 25-year-old Ingrid Sanchez, who was rescued along with her two young children from on top of their house by firefighters, who reached them by boat. Many had waited for days to be rescued. It is unlikely Honduras will receive anywhere close to what it needs to rebuild. Cookie Statement Hurricanes Eta and Iota are the most severe natural hazards that have hit Honduras in more than 20 years. Just two weeks after Hurricane Eta brought widespread flooding and forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, Honduras was battered by a second hurricane, leaving a level of destruction in its wake that rivals the worst natural disasters in the region’s history. First I lost money due to the coronavirus pandemic, and then these two storms hit. 4 min read. People waiting for help on a flooded main road. Hurricane Iota made a catastrophic landfall on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua last week, just 13 days after Hurricane Eta’s landfall. Many worry about post-storm corruption. Solidarity and the embrace between peoples will always be the way to reach the world we dream of.”. The impact of the hurricanes was so severe that it made many people forget, at least momentarily, about the pandemic that has changed the world. I haven’t worked for almost a year now because there are no jobs in this country. “I have nothing, I’m broke now. In Honduras, Hurricane Eta left a trail of destruction. El Salvador. Now his only roof is a bridge. Attachments. An estimated 100,000 people remained isolated across Honduras in the aftermath of Hurricane Eta as Iota made landfall. Nery Benitez was working shifts as a baggage handler at San Pedro Sula’s airport when it got flooded by Hurricane Eta. It’s a prompt to take action against this and listen to what indigenous peoples and the organizations fighting for climate justice have been saying.”. Hurricane Iota battered Nicaragua's Caribbean coast and flooded some stretches of neighbouring Honduras that were still underwater from Hurricane Eta … Many of those migrants who arrived in the US during the immediate aftermath of the hurricane were later granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which has allowed them to live and work in the country legally, but has been under attack by the Trump administration. Impact San Pedro Sula and El Progreso are among the most severely affected communities. “There’s no food, nowhere to bathe, no electricity,” Donaire says. HOPE; Posted 17 Nov 2020 Originally published 17 Nov 2020. Two days before the first hurricane arrived, the Honduran government was still promoting a tourism fair to revive the economy, instead of warning the population to take preventive measures. Hurricanes Eta and Iota hit Honduras back-to-back in November. The Colombian Air Force has also offered its support, evacuating 97 people in a Black Hawk helicopter. National Civil Police distribute donated clothes to victims of Hurricane Iota queueing at the Chamelecón neighbourhood in San Pedro Sula. Subsequent damage from Iota is expected to further inflate those numbers. This feature was originally published by Newsweek México. Hurricane Iota hit the Nicaraguan coast on November 16 as a Category 4 storm. The valley surrounding San Pedro Sula – the country’s economic motor and home to about 2 million people – is the hardest hit area in the nation. Hurricanes Eta and Iota caused damage of at least $1.8 billion in Honduras and affected almost half of its population, estimated a report by the ECLAC released Sunday by the government. “The people have no rights, no health, no work, no nothing,” he adds, as he savours a baleada donated by a passer-by. In Guatemala, we are providing food and relief supplies. In addition to these figures, some 20 schools, 51 buildings, 84 bridges and 218 roads were damaged in the country. “Some of the churches and other people who are helping out donate toilet paper but there’s no government aid here,” López explains. “This time was worse than Eta,” said 54-year-old Norma Amador. With clouds of mosquitos, large bodies of water and animal corpses everywhere, plus the lack of sanitation due to the storm damage, Nolasco is on the alert for possible outbreaks of malaria and leptospirosis. Eta began affecting northern Honduras as a Category 4 hurricane on 3 November. Category 4 Hurricane Eta and Category 5 Hurricane Iota cut similar paths across Central America this month, a one-two punch that killed scores of … Hurricane Iota is now growing strong and is set to hit Monday (11/16/2020) and travel the same path causing even more flooding in areas that are still 6 to 8 ft. underwater. Many people are living on the second floor of their homes because they have no where to go. “We have family and children. Bertha Zúñiga Cáceres, daughter of the environmental defender Berta Cáceres, who was murdered in 2016 because of her opposition to the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam, believes the destruction caused by the hurricanes was exacerbated by recent Honduran government policies. Hurricane Iota intensified over the Caribbean, strengthening to a Category 5 hurricane on Monday as it neared Nicaragua and Honduras. “I understand that there are people who came with small children, saving their babies, and they didn’t remember their masks because of the anguish,” she says. The estimated economic loss from Hurricane Eta ranges from 10%-20% of Honduras’ GDP, or roughly $5 billion dollars. . Durch starke Regenfälle sind … The arrival of Hurricanes Eta and Iota in early November, which have so far affected approximately three million people in Honduras alone, marked the reversal of the phenomenon, due to La Niña, which sees surface temperatures in the east-central Pacific drift below average to generate volatile hurricane seasons. Estimates show Hurricane Eta left $5 billion in damages. But the main concern remains the pandemic that has claimed nearly 3,000 lives and brought more than 100,000 cases of COVID-19 to a nation of 9.5 million people. “You feel a nervousness, a tension among us,” Tabora reflects. The storm had sustained winds of 160 mph, as it was centered about 80 miles southeast of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, and moved westward at 9 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. In the years after Mitch, Hondurans migrated to the US for the first time in significant numbers, leading to a substantial rise in, and dependence on, remittances. Iota killed at least 16 people in Nicaragua and a dozen or more in Honduras, according to the Associated Press, just weeks after 130 people died during Eta in Central America. “The water got higher and had more strength.”. Around 30 families took refuge there after losing their homes to the hurricanes Eta and Iota, which devastated large swathes of Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua in the first weeks of November. Shelters for people whose homes were flooded or damaged by hurricanes Eta and Iota in Honduras are now so crowded that thousands of victims have taken refuge under highway overpasses or bridges.   |   (Update: 4 December 2020) So far there is a total of roughly 4.6 million people affected by Eta & Iota together in Honduras, of which 1.78 million are children. Less than two weeks after being battered by Tropical Storm Eta, Honduras was hit by Hurricane Iota, a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. “My daughters have fallen ill. They’ve had a cough and the flu. Read more. Iota flooded stretches of Honduras still underwater from Hurricane Eta, after it hit Nicaragua Monday evening as a Category 4 hurricane and weakened as it … Honduras. San Pedro Sula, the nation’s second biggest city, was devastated. He says the Movimiento de Diversidad en Resistencia group raised a thousand dollars to buy them food, clothing and shoes, while transgender refugees in US cities such as Washington DC and Miami have sent them money to buy supplies. This time around global attention – and depleted finances – are focused on the coronavirus pandemic, and there is an absence of US leadership to mobilise support. “I had gone seven months without work and three days after I got called back this flooding happened,” the 50-year-old said. “I arrived at the shelter but they told me to set [the animals] free. The pandemic had already plunged the economy deep into recession. In a phone interview from Tegucigalpa, the nation’s capital, Erick Martínez Salgado, a defender of the rights of the LGBT community, affirms that the government response to the hurricanes and the pandemic has been weakened by a lack of planning and the historic corruption of state institutions. Sat on a red sofa beneath the bridge, Zaida Ramos, a single mother of two, agrees: “The government hasn’t given us a bite to eat around here, it’s just the people helping the people. On November 3, Hurricane Eta made landfall as a Category 4 storm, causing landslides and … Hospitals are overrun and the COVID death toll continues to rise. About 2.9 million people in Honduras were affected by Eta, according to the country’s emergency response unit, including many like Benitez whose homes were flooded to the rooftops. In Honduras, opposing the exploitation of the land, and the violation of the rights of its inhabitants, means risking one’s life. My house is still flooded, it flooded again when Iota struck. However, Martínez questions why “citizens are replacing the government’s role in providing humanitarian aid.”. Tropical Storm Eta and Hurricane Iota have landed Honduras and much of Central America a catastrophic double-blow. Tabora had already buried many COVID-19 victims and even had to close her business for a while because of the pandemic, but she immediately put her concerns to one side to shelter those who needed her help. Hurricanes Eta and Iota left more than 150,000 people in Honduras homeless and many lost everything. I've been out of work since the pandemic, when everything shut down. MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) - Iota rapidly gained strength after becoming the 13th hurricane of the Atlantic season Sunday, threatening to bring dangerous winds and rains to Nicaragua and Honduras — countries recently clobbered by Category 4 Hurricane Eta. Eta is the strongest hurricane to ravage Honduras since Mitch in 1998, which killed over 7,000 people. It’s a disaster we’re living through, but we’re trying to get back on our feet.”. Privacy Policy When it rains it pours in Honduras, a country that had already suffered multiple crisis in recent years: state repression, gang violence, economic problems, environmental destruction, mass emigration and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s going to need repairing because it’s sinking, it’s full of mud and it has dead animals inside.”, The families sheltered beneath the bridge bathe in the rainwater that falls on the highway and relieve themselves in the sewers. Photograph: Yoseph Amaya/Getty, ‘This was worse than Eta’: Hurricane Iota brings repeat destruction to Honduras. Over 3 million people have been affected by Eta. Iota will be the second major hurricane to hit the area in as many weeks. That’s why we intend to continue raising awareness among the people who live in [larger ad wealthier] countries so that they make more serious and genuine efforts to mitigate the environmental destruction that the whole world is suffering. Honduras + 1 more. Thank you to everyone who contributed to our GoFundMe campaign in support of employees and families impacted by the tropical storms that hit Honduras in early November 2020. Permissions Hurricane Iota has left the Planeta municipality in La Lima, Honduras, submerged in water. This storm, Hurricane Iota, has again flooded communities and fields, taken lives, and forced many Hondurans to relocate to shelters. That number is expected to increase substantially following Iota, which made landfall on the north coast of Nicaragua on Monday as a category four hurricane before pushing through Honduras the following day as a tropical storm with torrential rain and heavy winds. In three days, Eta downgraded to a tropical storm and then to a tropical depression, drenching much of Honduras and causing rising river levels, flooding, and landslides across the country. “The only option I have left is to emigrate to the United States. Overview. Iota became a Category 5 hurricane … The second, much larger storm has destroyed many areas largely spared by Eta and increased the flood damage in already stricken areas. New York, December 16, 2020—Hurricanes Eta and Iota have left more than 250,000 people in Honduras with limited access to health care services, but the international response remains insufficient to respond to the urgent needs, said the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Last year more than 250,000 Hondurans were apprehended at the south-west US border, more than double any previous year. Surreal scenes abound, like in the Chamelecón neighbourhood to the south of the city, where the river overflowed and flooded the cemetery, forcing open graves and leaving coffins floating in the water. Together, our community raised $25,595 to provide everything from hotel rooms, clothes, cleaning … The last time Honduras suffered a natural disaster of this scale was in 1998, when Hurricane Mitch – the worst natural disaster in Central American history and one of the deadliest Atlantic storms ever – devastated much of the country’s infrastructure. “When we saw the distress people were in we didn’t even think about these things... [I thought] come on, maybe they could be saved here, even if there’s not much room.”, Many of those affected have suffered post-traumatic stress due to everything they’ve been through since Eta, the first hurricane, approached. 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