WW: While writing the article "In the Wake of Disasters," I immediately thought about my long-time friend Jorge Handal. Amigo, as I affectionately call him, is a resident of Tegucigalpa, Honduras and a survivor of Hurricane Mitch, one of the worst storms to ever hit Central America. With a little arm-twisting on my part, he agreed to share some of his experiences. But first, let me provide you with some background information on this historical event.
Background Hurricane Mitch and its 180-mph winds hit Honduras on October 30, 1998, killing nearly 6,000 people and leaving close to one million people homeless due to flash floods and tons of mud and debris. Seventy percent of the crops were wiped out, thus crippling the country's economy. Direct and indirect storm damages in Central America (Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala & El Salvador) were estimated at more than $8.5 billion dollars with $3.4 billion to Honduras alone.
On November 5, 1998, former President Bill Clinton announced a $70 million assistance package to Central America. To date, aid to Central America has totaled over $260 million, channeled mainly through USAID, the Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
WW: Tell me about the day Hurricane Mitch hit.
JH: Hurricanes come and go in the Caribbean, but one hardly ever hits Honduras. The last one that hit Honduras was around 1972 (Hurricane Fifi). So, no one ever believed that Mitch would come to shore or hit any part of the territory.
For weeks it had been raining. We had a very harsh summer and all the dams were almost dry, so the rain was more than welcome. Late October 1998, Hurricane Mitch stationed itself on the island of Guanaja for three days and it gained strength. The island was very fortunate for it was inside the eye of the storm. The damage suffered there was only minimal. They were incommunicado for the time being and had no source of freshwater or food. After those three days everyone thought it would move north to Yucatan, but it bordered the Honduras shorelines and on Thursday, October 29, it landed in Cortés.
The rain became heavier and heavier. The soil was no longer permeable and the water began to flood the whole northern coast of Honduras. The dams were over-filled with water and it was too late to let the water go. All the main banana and African palm plantations were flooded or destroyed. The dams had to open their gates to prevent more disasters. Then the hurricane became a tropical storm the further inland it moved. It arrived in Tegucigalpa on Friday the 30th, but it was only high-speed winds and non-stop rain. Tegucigalpa is crossed by several rivers that were already running high. Friday night was the worst here in Tegucigalpa, the anxiety of not knowing what to do or to expect. Everyone was overwhelmed with a hurricane coming so far inland as this had.
Around midnight, two auxiliary dams gave way and the water currents were so high and strong that they destroyed the old part of Comayaguela (the twin city of Tegucigalpa) and these two cities were also incommunicado. The radio had been warning everyone who lived near the borders of any river to evacuate, but the people did not heed instructions because it was only raining.
WW: What made this hurricane different than others that hit Honduras or Central America?
JH: This hurricane was different in that the country was in disbelief and did not prepare for it--the amounts of rain that it brought and the slow manner in which it traveled. It hit four countries, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua, but mainly Honduras.
WW: How did you and your family prepare for this event?
JH: Like everyone else we were all in disbelief and we did not prepare. My nieces live near Rio Choluteca and were unwilling to move to higher ground. (The news here is extremely sensationalistic, so no one pays much attention to what is said.) They moved to my house (in the mountains) reluctantly, and without taking any of their belongings. My nephew refused to move at all. He stayed home, then at midnight he was knocking on my door Apparently, a loud noise, like a boom woke him up. Immediately, he went out to his balcony and looked at the river. A school bus carried by the currents had just crashed over the bridge near his house. Well, past midnight, around 12:30 am, I went with them to their house to try to see if we could gather clothing and personal belongings, but it was too late when we arrived. The water was around 6 feet above the ground and we could not do anything but watch. Around 10:00 am on Saturday the waters had receded enough and we were able to get into the house. They had been extremely fortunate. Their house sits behind a 10 ft high wall. The entrance is opposite the current and the front door is iron from top to bottom. All around their house, houses were either destroyed or buried under mud. The waters only flooded their house 2 ft at the most.
WW: What was the aftermath like-the destruction?
JH: It would not have been that bad had it not been raining all those weeks before, and had the people heeded advice to move to higher ground. The problem here in Tegucigalpa was that in the old part of town several bridges unite the capital with its twin city Comayaguela. The waters brought a whole lot of debris. The two combined formed a dam. The water accumulated and flooded the city. The old buildings were built around 100 and 150 years ago of adobe, so these gave way. Many people refused to leave their homes and were taken by surprise by the flash flood that came after the auxiliary dams gave way and collapsed.
The Mayor of Tegucigalpa at that time was Mr. Castellanos. On Sunday afternoon, he took a helicopter to survey the cities and had the misfortune of crashing. So on top of all this, we had no one to lead us while the city was in mourning.
WW: How did you and your family get through this difficult period?
JH: Everything came to a halt for like three weeks. We had no running water or supplies; the day after everyone ran to the supermarkets and bought them out. People were buying and fighting for water. Most houses here have cisterns. So one would see the cistern trucks delivering water to most homes. The waiting time for delivery was 36 hrs.
WW: What U.S. agencies or countries were most responsive to the people of Honduras?
JH: The first country to come to our aid was Guatemala. Then came Mexico and Cuba. The US was one of the last to come to our aid because of the Cuban involvement here; they waited until the Cuban doctor brigades were forced to leave. But the US was one of the countries that stayed the longest to help with the reconstruction. The US helped us with around 500 Baileys (bridges built in around 24 hrs made of trusses etc.). The military are usually the ones who come and help. Then there were many churches sending aid. But a whole lot got spoiled because the infrastructure of the country was basically non-existent at that point.
Many foreign dignitaries came to see the disaster such as the King and Queen of Spain Don Juan Carlos and Doña Sofia, President Chirac from France (he said that the disaster and the tragedy was worst than the bomb destruction at Kosovo) and many others like Tipper Gore and Senator Hillary Clinton. Several towns in the southern region of Honduras vanished overnight when the flash floods came.
WW: What long-term effect has the hurricane had on your family?
JH: We were very lucky in comparison to others who lost everything. The major effect has been a real slow down in our businesses since most of our clientele suffered great losses and lost their loved ones.
WW: How has the country recovered?
JH: The infrastructure has mostly been rebuilt with the aid of Japan, Germany, Mexico, the US, Spain, Holland and Sweden. People who lived in the low grounds were relocated and given new single unit homes. The economy is still suffering since most of the plantations take around five years to fully recover and in order for exports to be as they were before. But the global economy has also overwhelmed us since most markets are down.
WW: What have you learned from this disaster?
JH: First, that one must heed to the warnings. Second, that it is very important to have a good government in power. Had it not been for our First Lady Mary Flakes de Flores, I think Honduras would have been cheated with aid from abroad. Most of the world knows about Nicaragua and El Salvador and have always sympathized with them. They had damage done but not to the extremes that Honduras did. By the time the storm went south, it was nothing but rain. When it entered the Pacific Ocean, it was thought to gain strength, but it did not.
Jorge Handal is a graduate of Purdue University (industrial engineering) and the general manager of three gift stores in Honduras.
According to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, Hurricane Mitch was a category 5 storm--the most devastating with the ability to cause serious structural damage as experienced in Honduras and other parts of Central America.