CASE STUDY: Hurricane Mitch

1. CASE STUDY:Hurricane Mitch

4. Extensive wind damage and devastating floods occurred nationwide. 

10. Hurricane Mitch was the costliest hurricane in Central America this century, in terms of loss of life. In this instance, the word "devastated" is not strong enough.

12. This makes Mitch one of the deadliest Atlantic tropical cyclones in history, ranking only below the 1780 "Great Hurricane" in the Lesser Antilles, and comparable to the Galveston hurricane of 1900. 

15. However, Honduras was not alone; similar adverse impacts occurred in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador, with substantial loss of life and property in those countries.

18. Ninety percent of its roads suffered destruction. Banana plantations, the mainstay of the Honduran economy and key export crop, had been destroyed, first by the winds and floods and later, by standing water in the fields.

21. There were an estimated 17,000 deaths (known dead plus missing), and about one-third of Honduras’ population was affected.

24. In the aftermath of the hurricane, adverse health effects increased, such as cholera, dysentery, and dengue fever.

26.   

27. Approximately 2 million persons were left homeless…

28. …in a country of approximately 6 million people. 

30. Hurricane MitchCreated for the Oklahoma Council for Social Studies