Central American hurricane brings humanitarian turmoil

Residents walk under electrical poles broken by the winds of Hurricane Julia in Bluefields, Nicaragua, Oct. 9. — Inti Ocon/AP Residents walk under electrical poles broken by the winds of Hurricane Julia in Bluefields, Nicaragua, Oct. 9. — Inti Ocon/AP

Hurricane Julia’s impact on Honduras could lead to a migration crisis stretching from Central America to the United States. The relatively weak Category 1 hurricane made landfall Oct. 9 in Nicaragua.

Al Jazeera reported thousands of Hondurans fled to government shelters because infrastructure, such as river basins and dams, has still not been repaired after the 2020 landfall of much stronger hurricanes.

“Even though two years have passed since [Eta and Iota], many people have still not recovered from the disastrous impacts that the floods provoked,” said Cesar Ramos, who works with the migrant support program of Mennonite Social Action Commission, a ministry of the Honduras Mennonite Church. “If the authorities don’t provide immediate, timely care and consider this truly as an emergency, then people will find themselves having to migrate. The truth is that people can’t wait.”

The Red Cross estimates more than 1.5 million people were displaced by Eta and Iota in Central America, almost a third of those coming from Honduras.

Anabaptist World

Anabaptist World Inc. (AW) is an independent journalistic ministry serving the global Anabaptist movement. We seek to inform, inspire and Read More

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