TEGUCIGALPA — The Honduran government on Wednesday issued a drought alert for 80 percent of the country, encompassing 234 municipalities including the capital Tegucigalpa, home to 1.7 million people.
El Niño is responsible for scorching harvests and causing livestock deaths from thirst, threatening food security across the nation. Low reservoir levels, widespread crop losses, and animal deaths have prompted the emergency response.
SeventyFive areas, including Tegucigalpa, have been designated under a red alert, indicating maximum risk. Francisco Euceda, a cattle rancher in one of these critical municipalities, described the situation as severe. "Cattle have died, and the cows we still have are thin. The situation is critical; the forecasts are discouraging," Euceda said.
President Nasry Asfura announced emergency measures including drilling new wells, constructing additional reservoirs, and delivering food supplies to the most affected regions. Asfura said the crisis is expected to persist until March or April.
This year's El Niño is projected to be among the strongest on record. The phenomenon warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, triggering global shifts in winds, atmospheric pressure, and rainfall patterns.
The Central American Dry Corridor, an arid strip spanning parts of Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, is particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events. The UN World Food Programme estimated that Central America would face severe hunger exacerbated by El Niño.
Regional temperature records were broken in June and July. El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras each experienced their hottest monthly temperatures during both months. A broader heat wave affected 110 million people from Mexico to northern Brazil, who experienced the hottest July on record.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that El Niño was "adding fuel to a planet already on fire."
Other nations have felt the impact. Peru declared a state of emergency in a third of its cities last week, anticipating that intense heat and rain could disrupt food production. In Indonesia, El Niño has worsened a drought that contributed to one of the country's most severe wildfire seasons in years.
The 2015-16 El Niño affected more than 60 million people and prompted $5 billion in humanitarian appeals across 23 countries. Over 80 percent of projected drought impacts from such events typically affect agriculture in low- and middle-income countries, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
