USGS Hurricane Mitch Program -Honduras

Honduras

Honduras suffered the greatest damage from Hurricane Mitch. After stalling off the northern coast of Honduras, the storm traveled inland on October 30-31, 1998, leaving a trail of widespread destruction. In some places wind velocities reached more than 180 miles-per-hour, and over 6 feet of rain fell.

The severe flooding and landslides that resulted caused more than 5,000 deaths, over 12,000 injuries, and over 8,000 missing. It also destroyed many homes and severely damaged or destroyed much of the infrastructure. Flooding of the Choluteca River, and other rivers, cut new channels and scoured the land surface. This resulted in large deposits of sediment on the coastal plain and on agricultural fields, particularly those adjacent to the Choluteca River.

USAID report on Honduras
Honduras Clearinghouse Node

Communications

Telephones: 105,000 (1992 est.)
Telephone system: inadequate system
domestic: NA international: satellite earth stations—2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to Central American Microwave System
Radio broadcast stations: AM 176, FM 0, shortwave 7
Radios: 2.115 million (1992 est.)
Television broadcast stations: 11 (in addition, there are 17 repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: 400,000 (1992 est.)

Economy

Economy—overview: Prior to Hurricane Mitch in the fall of 1998, Honduras had been pursuing a moderate economic reform program and had posted strong annual growth numbers. The storm has dramatically changed economic forecasts for Honduras, one of the poorest countries in Central America and the hardest hit by Mitch. Honduras sustained approximately $3 billion in damages and will probably see GDP shrink by 2% in 1999 and unemployment rise. Hardest hit was the all-important agricultural sector, which is responsible for the majority of exports. As a result, the trade deficit is likely to balloon in 1999 to $445 million. However, significant aid has helped to stabilize the country. In addition, the Paris Club and bilateral creditors have offered substantial debt relief, and Tegucigalpa is currently under consideration for inclusion in the IMF-World Bank Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC). Additional financing will be needed to restore the economy to its pre-Mitch level.
Population below poverty line: 50% (1992 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 14.5% (1998 est.)
Labor force: 1.3 million (1997 est.)
Labor force—by occupation: agriculture 37%, services 39%, industry 24% (1996)
Unemployment rate: 6.3% (1997); underemployed 30% (1997 est.)
Industries: sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products
Industrial production growth rate: 10% (1992 est.)
Electricity—production: 2.73 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity—production by source:
fossil fuel: 12.09% hydro: 87.91% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1996)
Electricity—imports: 4 million kWh (1996)
Agriculture—products: bananas, coffee, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp
Exports: $1.3 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
Exports—commodities: bananas, coffee, shrimp, lobster, minerals, meat, lumber
Exports—partners: US 54%, Germany 7%, Belgium 5%, Japan 4%, Spain 3% (1995)
Imports: $1.8 billion (c.i.f. 1996)
Imports—commodities: machinery and transport equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical products, manufactured goods, fuel and oil, foodstuffs
Imports—partners: US 43%, Guatemala 5%, Japan 5%, Germany 4%, Mexico 3%, El Salvador 3% (1995)
Economic aid—recipient: $418.7 million (1995)

People

Population: 5,997,327 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 41% (male 1,262,190; female 1,217,752)
15-64 years: 55% (male 1,643,550; female 1,665,666)
65 years and over: 4% (male 98,715; female 109,454) (1999 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 64.68 years
male: 63.16 years
female: 66.27 years (1999 est.)
Ethnic groups: mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European) 90%, Amerindian 7%, black 2%, white 1%
Languages: Spanish, Amerindian dialects
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 72.7%
male: 72.6%
female: 72.7% (1995 est.)

Transportation

Railways:
total: 595 km narrow gauge: 190 km 1.067-m gauge; 128 km 1.057-m gauge; 277 km 0.914-m gauge
Highways:
total: 14,173 km
paved: 3,126 km
unpaved: 11,047 km (1998 est.)
Waterways: 465 km navigable by small craft
Ports and harbors: La Ceiba, Puerto Castilla, Puerto Cortes, San Lorenzo, Tela, Puerto Lempira
Merchant marine:
total: 247 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 555,534 GRT/730,602 DWT
ships by type: bulk 21, cargo 157, chemical tanker 4, container 7, livestock carrier 1, oil tanker 25, passenger 1, passenger-cargo 4, refrigerated cargo 15, roll-on/roll-off cargo 6, short-sea passenger 5, vehicle carrier 1
Airports: 122 (1998 est.)
Airports—with paved runways:
total: 11
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 4
under 914 m: 2 (1998 est.)
Airports—with unpaved runways:
total: 111

2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 21
under 914 m: 87 (1998 est.)

Landslide Hazards in Honduras

Project Chief: Edwin L.Harp

Project Summary

The landslides triggered by Hurricane Mitch have left infrastructure, property, and peoples lives subject to continuing hazard from future periods of sustained, heavy rainfall. In addition to the direct hazard posed by the location of people and property adjacent to landslide-prone areas in Honduras, many municipalities and critical facilities have an unknown continuing hazard due to the increased sediment load provided by the landslides to the drainage network. This increased sediment load may continue to overload the stream drainages for many years and result in accentuated flooding hazards to these municipalities and critical facilities.

The current project will assess the current and ongoing hazard from landslides to people, property, and infrastructure by compiling landslide inventory maps of the critical municipalities that have significant landslide hazards. The inventory maps will be compiled by use of post-Mitch open skies aerial photography and other aerial photography to be obtained in the 1999-2000 dry season to fill in gaps in the cloud-free photography that presently exist. These inventories will be done for the areas of watersheds that affect the critical municipalities so that both the direct hazard from landslides and that posed by the increased sediment from the landslides that is working its way through the stream network can be assessed. Landslide susceptibility maps will be produced for the critical municipalities with landslide hazards, and recommendations will be made as to measures that can be taken to mitigate the hazards that exist.

Landslide hazards will be assessed for the following municipalities: Tocoa, Sonaguera, Olanchito, La Ceiba, Tela, El Progreso, Villanueva, Potrerillos, Comayagua, Siguatepeque, La Paz, Santa Rosa de Copan, Copan Ruins, La Esperanza, Gracias, Tegucigalpa, Catacamas, Danli, El Paraiso, and Choluteca. The municipalities of Juticalpa, Talanga, Guaimaca, and Santa Cruz de Yojoa do not appear to have significant landslide hazards.

Principle Central American counterpart agencies

Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment
CODEM
COPECO
FUNDEMUN
municipality of Tegucigalpa

Geography

Area: total: 112,090 sq km land: 111,890 sq km water: 200 sq km
Area—comparative: slightly larger than Tennessee
Border countries: Guatemala 256 km, El Salvador 342 km, Nicaragua 922 km
Coastline: 820 km
Maritime claims:contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: natural extension of territory or to 200 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains
Terrain: mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Cerro Las Minas 2,870 m
Natural resources: timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish
Land use: arable land: 15% permanent crops: 3% permanent pastures: 14% forests and woodland: 54% other: 14% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 740 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; damaging hurricanes and floods along Caribbean coast
Environment—current issues: urban population expanding; deforestation results from logging and the clearing of land for agricultural purposes; further land degradation and soil erosion hastened by uncontrolled development and improper land use practices such as farming of marginal lands; mining activities polluting Lago de Yojoa (the largest source of fresh water) as well as several rivers and streams with heavy metals; severe Hurricane Mitch damage

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