Attachments
Situation in Numbers
- 113,067 children affected.
- 7 municipalities continue to report stagnant flooding and high levels of mud.
286,200 people at risk of waterborne diseases. - 6,000 people Reached with UNICEF multisectoral responses.
Situation Overview
- During November 2024, Tropical Storm (TS) Sara entered the northern part of Honduras, leaving a considerable negative impact throughout its course along 32% of the national territory, mostly in the departments of Atlántida, Cortés, Yoro, Colón, Choluteca, Valle, and Francisco Morazán. The magnitude of the storm resulted in the Declaration of a National Emergency for a period of 30 days, with special emphasis on 98 municipalities classified by the Secretariat for Risk Management and National Contingencies (COPECO) as the most vulnerable and affected. During the first week of the emergency, COPECO reported over 259,520 people affected (113,067 children), including 8,927 people distributed along 116 shelters, 7 people dead, over 2,492 communities isolated due to damages to access routes, and over 286,200 people with no access to water and sanitation systems. Few days after the storm, families sheltered in most affected areas started a rapid return to their communities motivated by the fear of losing their possessions, house invasions and the difficult conditions of shelters. This increased vulnerability of families, especially children and women, who returned to communities that continued to be flooded, with no access to safe water, sanitation systems damaged and high risks of landslides. Moreover, the following weeks two cold fronts brought more rainfalls which increased floodings and forced many to return to the shelters. Under this context, risks and vulnerabilities of affected population increased significantly, and humanitarian needs were exacerbated due to high levels of stagnant water, deepen damages to already-affected infrastructure, and overcrowding of shelters which activated and de-activated several times.
- Rapid changes in context due to prolonged rains, the slow recovery of roads infrastructure, continuous flooding, high level stagnant water and mud, damages to water and sanitation systems, and limited access to affected communities -especially those in most violent contexts- have made humanitarian access more difficult and the cost of the response more expensive. This situation exacerbates the risks of survival and development of children and women, who are critically exposed to violence including SGBV, malnutrition and the spread of water-related diseases including dengue, diarrhoea, amebiasis, among others.
- Thus, UNICEF highlights the importance of taking urgent steps towards the recovery of water and sanitation systems, drainage of stagnant water, recovery of affected schools, prevention and control of illnesses and malnutrition, and strengthening of child protection systems for a safe return of children and families to the communities.