ENVIRONMENT: Honduras, Still Wobbling from Mitch, Lashed by Rains

By Thelma Mejía Reprint | | Print |

Thelma Mejía

TEGUCIGALPA, Sep 24 1999 (IPS) - Heavy rains in the past two weeks have hit Honduras, which has not yet recovered from the severe damages caused by hurricane Mitch almost a year ago.

The discharge of the overflow of Honduras’ main hydropower dam forced the government to order the evacuation of seven towns on the Atlantic coast, where a state of emergency was declared as a result of the flooding.

The government reported Friday that the heavy storm lashing northern, northwestern and central Honduras had led to an unusually heavy flow of water in the rivers that feed into the El Cajón reservoir, the Central American country’s main source of electricity.

Arturo Corrales, coordinator of the Permanent Emergency Committee (COPECO), said the water in the reservoir had reached 286 metres above sea level, the maximum permitted level, which meant 1,000 cubic metres of water per second were released as a disaster prevention measure.

“We are anticipating events, because more water is coming,” said Corrales. “We have had to take precautionary measures, and have ordered the evacuation of at least seven towns on the north coast, near the banks of the Ulúa river.”

The Ulúa and Chamelecón rivers are the country’s largest, and are frequently to blame for heavy damages to the productive apparatus and roads of this impoverished Central American country.

Potrerillos, Santa Rita, La Lima and El Progreso were among the towns evacuated, all of which are located in the fertile valley of Sula, Honduras’ chief banana and African palm-producing region.

COPECO reported that the rains falling in the past two weeks highlighted the country’s continued vulnerability to natural disasters, after the havoc wrought 11 months ago by hurricane Mitch, which claimed more than 5,000 lives – at least 10,000 in all of Central America – and caused around three billion dollars in losses.

Corrales said “these rains caught us off guard, because we have not yet recovered from Mitch, and its phantom has returned again to haunt us.”

Tegucigalpa is the must vulnerable point in central Honduras, because just two hours of continuous rainfall are enough to flood the old part of the city and overwhelm the sewage system.

Lack of maintenance by the national and municipal governments in dredging the rivers and keeping the mountain streams clean have compounded the fragility of old Tegucigalpa.

Tegucigalpa Mayor Vilma Castellanos declared a “restricted local emergency” Friday to clean up rivers and streams, while more than 69 families were evacuated from an area that lays astride a geological fault discovered this year by experts.

In northeastern Honduras, the situation is no less disturbing. In the department of Olancho, some 3,000 people have already been affected by the rains, with major destruction of crops like corn and beans, and livestock losses. Several towns have been left incommunicados.

The government declared the nation on a state of alert, and declared a state of emergency in the north.

The alert will continue for at least 45 days, said representatives of Copeco in a meeting Thursday with the diplomatic corps and accredited donor entities in Tegucigalpa.

Tropical storms and hurricanes sweeping the Caribbean region have hit the Honduran coastline, said the Bureau of Meteorology.

Southern Honduras, hit hardest by Mitch in October 1998, joined the disaster area Friday. The Choluteca river overflowed its banks once again, and three towns were left incommunicados.

In that area, hurricane Mitch destroyed the city of Morolica, whose residents survived miraculously and are today building “New Morolica”.

According to reports by COPECO, which appears to be better organised and more efficient than a year ago, the floods have affected more than 5,000 people so far, and claimed four lives, while destroying 82 homes and damaging 575 others. Eight bridges have been washed out, six viaducts damaged and 11 highways left in a sorry state.

For the weekend, Corrales predicted further discharges of water from the El Cajón dam, widespread evacuations and a continued state of alert.

The flooding will force the government to reinforce the emergency actions designed to get the country back on its feet in the wake of Mitch. It will also have to rework economic forecasts once again, because at least 200 hectares of bananas that escaped the wrath of Mitch were destroyed by this month’s storms.

Coffee-growers in western Honduras were calling for assistance in harvesting their beans, after their fields were left incommunicados and harvests were lost due to a lack of workers.