Central America Takes Brunt of Hurricane Season
by: Sara Hoskins
This years hurricane season started with a strange phenomena; for the first time on record, an Atlantic and a Pacific hurricane made landfall on the same day. Hurricanes Henriette and Felix made landfall in Central America, promising extensive damage to coastal cities. Vacation spots and tourist destinations were evacuated and suffered billions of dollars worth of property damage, and the weather didn't clear up.
Category 1 Hurricane Henriette crossed the Baja peninsula on Wednesday, September 5 after making landfall between Topolobambo, Sinaloa State, and Bahia Kino in the northwest of Sonora. It produced about ten inches of rain and winds of up to 15 miles per hour. Only one person died as a result of the storm.
Felix pounded the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa and was then downgraded to a tropical storm two days later. It dumped about six inches of rain on Nicaragua and El Salvador, while most of Honduras received up to fifteen inches of rain and winds at 30 miles per hour.
The United Nations World Food Programme had already distributed supplies to Honduran officials Sunday night. Residents also responded quickly and efficiently to the threat, remembering the devastation caused in 1998 by Hurricane Mitch, which left around 11,000 dead and 8,000 missing.
Charities to help support Central American hurricane victims:
UNWFP
End Water Poverty
Project concern International