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The human and economic toll exacted by Hurricane Mitch was staggering. More than
9,000 people were killed, 13,000 injured, and 3 million displaced. In one
single, tragic mudslide in Posoltega, Nicaragua, 2,000 people perished. Hundreds
of bridges, thousands of schools, clinics and kilometers of roadway were
destroyed or damaged. There were also severe losses to rice, corn, beans, coffee
and banana crops, the basic economic mainstay of thousands of poor farmers and
consumers. Direct and indirect damages from the storm were estimated at more
than $8.5 billion in Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador, with $3.4
billion in Honduras alone. |
