100 Places To Remember: Honduras
Geschreven op 28-4-2010 - Erik van Erne. Geplaatst in Natuur
Shaped by a Restless Underground. Positioned near the junction of three tectonic plates, Honduras has been shaped by millions of years of underground movements that has created the most mountainous country in Central America, albeit with alluvial plains covering the Caribbean lowlands in the north
Most of Honduras 7.6 million inhabitants live in villages and towns tucked into its numerous valleys or clinging to the slopes of its mountains. Smallholders grow coffee on the steep mountainsides, and the lower coastal plains are covered with banana plantations and palm trees that produce palm oil and biodiesel. Coffee and bananas are vitally important exports for Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the Americas.
Despite its unstable geology, it is not earthquakes but hurricanes that have proven to be the biggest threat to Honduras. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch ravaged Central America, hitting Honduras the hardest. It sent waves almost seven metres high crashing into the coast, and the extreme rainfall made the Choluteca River flood to six times its normal width.
Flooding and mudslides wiped out entire villages, roads and nearly all the countrys bridges, obliterated about 80% of the coffee and banana crops, washed away the topsoil and covered plantations with sand. The hurricane also killed almost 6,000 people.
Mitch was the fourth strongest hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic basin, but since then no fewer than three others have already surpassed it. Rising sea temperatures are projected to increase the frequency of extreme weather events, particularly across Central America. Time and again, hurricanes like Mitch will set back the development of poor countries such as Honduras.
