They survived both storms and were able to stay for months in a shelter as neighbours chipped in to rent a bulldozer to clear the standing water and mud that blanketed their community. Elsa and her family were among the lucky ones. But just hours later, surging waters spilled into that shelter, too, forcing the family to flee once again.Īccording to official figures, more than four million people were affected by Hurricanes Eta and Iota in Honduras alone. The family escaped to a shelter on higher ground, with what little clothing they managed to grab on their way out. In the midst of the downpour that came with Iota, the waters of a nearby river spilled over, inundating Elsa’s neighbourhood and blanketing many houses in sticky, debris-strewn mud, while it swept others away. “I’d never experienced any storms like these.” They marked a tragic end to a record-breaking hurricane season in the Atlantic, with 30 named storms. It had been blanketed in such a thick layer of mud that the corrugated tin roofs were the only visible part of many of the homes.Įlsa and her family fled the area as Hurricane Iota, a Category Four storm with winds reaching 155 m.p.h., struck on 18 November, 2020, dumping up to 63 centimetres of rain on ground already saturated by Hurricane Eta, another Category Four storm that had pummelled the same areas in Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua less than two weeks earlier. What she saw was devastating: The neighbourhood is a high-crime area on the outskirts of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, where ruthless street gangs hold sway. She had to wade through neck-high waters just to reach it. Two months after two deadly hurricanes in quick succession flooded her neighbourhood, Elsa* finally screwed up the courage to check on the state of her home.
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