WFP – Hurricane ETA Situation Report

#02

Next edition0Month5 November due: YYYY (estimated 2020 date) (as of noon) INTERNAL USE ONLY

1. Highlights • Hurricane Eta formed in the Caribbean Sea as a tropical storm and made landfall in Nicaragua on November 3 as a category 4 hurricane. At night the hurricane was downgraded to category 2 and by November 4 the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm and then entered Honduras as a tropical depression. Despite the downgrade, the rains became more intense with a possibility to reach catastrophic level, so COPECO asks for extreme precautionary measures. • CENAOS de COPECO informs that the tropical depression ETA is currently located in Francisco Morazán about 14 km northeast of Talanga. Its displacement speed is 13 km / h, the maximum sustained winds are estimated at 45 km / h with some higher gusts. • The Constitutional President of the Republic on the Council of Secretaries of State, according to executive decree number PCM-109-2020, has instructed to the Secretary of State in the Office of Finance (SEFIN, for its Spanish acronym), to assign a budget item for an amount of up to 50 million Lempiras, in order to attend to the effects of the heavy rains that are forecast on and around the path of ETA. 2. Situation Update, including security • The Alert Committee of the Secretary of State in the National Risk and Contingency Management Offices (COPECO, for its Spanish acronym) decided to declare an indefinite red alert throughout the national territory as of 12 noon on November 4, indicating that evacuations are now mandatory from high-risk areas. • COPECO has deployed inspection teams to these areas and has already distributed nearly 800 food rations from the pre-positioned reserve of nearly 120,000 pounds, in addition to several deliveries of mattresses and kitchen kits. • COPECO and the National Electric Power Company (ENEE, for its acronym in Spanish) announced that according to the data available on the capacity of the Francisco Morazán dam (Hydroelectric Powerplant), the first discharges will be made on Friday, November 6, starting at 5 am which will contribute to further increase the level of water in the Ulúa River.

• Due to the red alert in Honduras and the recommendations provided by COPECO, regular / special commercial cargo and passenger flights are suspended in the country's 4 international airports, until weather conditions allow the regular provision of navigation services.

Crop situation The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG, for its acronym in Spanish), informs that due to the ETA Storm that currently affects the national territory, there have been damages and losses in the crops that are detailed below (still estimates): 862 hectares of corn in Colon, El Paraíso, Olancho. 4,984 hectares of frijol in El Paraiso, Intibucá, Ocotepeque, Olancho. 2940 hectares of rice Buen día estimadas Carolina y Sara Espero se encuentren muy bien. Les adjunto el Situation Report de Honduras con las últimas actualizaciones del día.

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in Atlántida, Colón, Intibucá. 350 hectares of oriental crops in Comayagua 3055 hectares of banana in Colón and Yoro. 10,500 hectares of sugar cane in Cortés. 12926 hectares of citrus in Colón. 160 hectares of cacao in Atlántida and Cortés. 980 hectares of lychee in Atlántida. 56 hectares of sweet potato in Comayagua. 14 hectares of cassava in Yoro. 158,000 liters of milk in Olancho and Yoro.

Information from PMA Field Offices

• Province of Atlántida: Within the coverage area of La Ceiba office, the departments of Gracias a Dios, Colón, Atlántida and Islas de la Bahía are on red alert, while Yoro and Cortés are on yellow alert. The entire area of La Ceiba, the departments of Gracias a Dios, Colón, Atlántida, Islas de la Bahía have reported constant rains throughout Wednesday 4th and intermittent rains on Thursday 5th. Anong the most serious impact in that region, the highway between Tela and La Ceiba is cut due to overflow from the Lean River; 19 homes affected in the city of Tela with evacuations; floods of the Monga Aguan river with possible evacuations in the Aguan and Tocoa areas in the next few hours; the Humuya River is overcharged but still within its riverbed. The Lorencito and Sonaguera river reached their maximum level and flooded several communities; a family has been evacuated from Choloma, and rescue operations of families have been carried out in the vicinity of Olanchito. COPECO called to alert the inhabitants of the municipalities of , Tocoa, Sabá, Olanchito, , Santa Rosa de Aguan, Zamora, Sonaguera and due to the level of river flow.

• Province of Gracias a Dios: Yesterday a meeting with was held by the CODED to find out how the Emergency Operations Centre is operating. In the municipality 236 evacuations were done on November 4th, but several of the sheltered families have returned to their homes on November 5th because the weather improved. Brus Laguna 120 evacuated and sheltered; Wampusirpi 11; Aguas 30 for a total of 1897 sheltered. An Emergency damage assessment (EDAN) was done during the first 8 hours of the event, collecting qualitative information. COPECO and partners are preparing to carry out another EDAN after 72 hours. It is reported that in Cauquira there are more people sheltered; between 70 and 100 people were rescued in the keys, among they many children. Another place that continues to be of concern is Sugi, due to its proximity to the Coco River (no data available at the moment). Wampusirpi is still affected by the River. In Ahuás, 24 more people were transferred to the shelters during last night.

Four visits were organized to inspect damages in the different communities of the municipality of Puerto Lempira. Results are pending. During a meeting with all actors, the mayor commented that they already have the logistical support of the Preventive Police, the National Forestry Institute, the support with fuel from the NGO CASM, and they will request logistical support from other institutions that have vehicles or boats. They, as CODEM, do not have the necessary logistics to carry out these activities.

• Province of Lempira: In San Sebastian, the bridge over the Mocal River collapsed, cutting off access to this municipality. The Higuito River overflowed, so there is no passage to the department of Copán.

• Province of Copán: In general, the roads are highly damaged by landslides, including the one from San Pedro Sula (SPS) to Santa Rosa de Copán. The road to Lempira is also damaged by the overflow of the Higuito River. There are landslides in the entrance to Santa Rosa de Copán. Floodings have been registered in several neighbourhoods of Santa Rosa de Copán, with some families already affected by the COVID crisis have been affected by the floods. It has been raining steadily across the sector since yesterday Wednesday 4th. The Copán River in La Vegona, Copán Ruinas has overflowed, affecting 40 manzanas of basic grains and vegetables.

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• Province of Ocotepeque: In the case of Ocotepeque reports say that local authorities have not been able to carry out the Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis (EDAN), because they are not organized or trained. They have activated their alerts, but they have no data.

• Province of El Paraíso: In the south of El Paraíso, municipalities of Liure, Soledad, Vado Ancho and Texiguat so far, the situation remains stable with cloudiness and light to moderate rains. River level is normal. The Municipal Emergency Committees (CODEM, for its acronym in Spanish) are activated and have shelters available.

• Province of Choluteca: In the municipalities of Apacilagua and Orocuina it is raining but not heavily. There is no access from Orocuina to Apacilagua through the Chiquito river. The CODEMs are active. In the Choluteca municipality, although it has rained constantly for more than 2 hours on Thursday morning, the rain has been moderate and the level of the river is under the green alert. However, with the rains in south of El Paraíso and Francisco Morazán levels could rise a lot in the early morning of tomorrow. CODEMs and CODELEs are activated and 36 shelters have been identified. As a preventive measure, the CODEM will evacuate families living on the riverbank. In Marcovia, Namasigüe, it rained moderately during the morning, but without risk so far. Moderate rains in the rest of the municipalities, without damage until now, although the saturation of the soils could cause landslides tomorrow if the rains persist.

• Province of Francisco Morazán: For the southern municipalities of Francisco Morazán, the rains began on Wednesday afternoon in a moderate way, showing damage only in the municipality of Curarén in the community of San Román where a power line pole fell, affecting approximately 400 households of three communities. In the rest of the municipalities there is no news until now.

• Province of Comayagua: Road to Sierra de la Paz and surroundings without electricity since the day before yesterday due to the fall of the electricity structure. There has been a landslide on the dry canal road that has cut off access from La Paz to Choluteca. 5 families have been evacuated, now they are in shelters. 1 deceased is reported, 1 man from Asaguara who drowned in the river. 14 houses damaged and 6 destroyed. San Francisco de Opalaca affected and working with INVEST-H in rehabilitation of the road. The rain has stopped this morning.

• Province of Cortés: Constant and heavy rains are recorded throughout the night in the northern region, which has caused the Ulúa river to overflow in Villanueva Cortes. Floods and evacuations in Potrerillos and Pimienta (civic center has prepared shelters). The sugarcane area that connects the CA-5 highway with the city of La Lima is flooded. More water is expected in the region of the Valle de Sula in the afternoon, with a high risk of flooding in many neighborhoods of the SPS urban area, including La Lima, Choloma and Villanueva.

• Province of Olancho: In the department of Olancho, shelters have been set up in the 23 municipalities. There is no access to and Juticalpa because the River has overflowed; there is also no access in the agricultural corridor, between and , a road that connects to Trujillo; the passage between Salama, and is cut off. The overflow of the Juticalpa river affected La Hoya neighborhood, Los Dardanelos, Montes Rivas and Calona.

3. Programme Update 3.1 Assessments Preliminary data of needs based on the rapid assessments carried out by COPECO: • 80 municipalities have been prioritized for being vulnerable to the tropical depression. • 724 shelters identified. • 934 affected families (360,170 people) • 57,920 people in shelters (11,584 families). • 2 deceased persons • 200 people rescued

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• 457 homes affected and 25 damaged. • 41 isolated communities • 51 affected roads • 9 bridges destroyed • 16 rivers/streams overflowing

Likewise, the following inputs have been quantified for the first response in the shelters: food and non-food items, hygiene and biosecurity kits, minor tools

3.2 Prioritized Populations/Beneficiaries According to the population exposure in the affected area, WFP ADAM forecasting system has calculated that around 1.5 million people of Nicaragua, Honduras and San Andres Islands will be affected by this phenomenon. For Honduras, about 400,000 people reside in the most affected areas and will be potentially affected by the heavy rains and winds. Among them the most vulnerable are people in shelters, who have lost their homes, single mothers, pregnant women, people with disabilities, elderly persons. Part of that population is at risk of the cumulative impact of COVID, drought and tropical storm, putting them is a very critical InSAN situation. Indigenous groups and Afro-Hondurans who live in isolated places are becoming increasingly vulnerable due to the interruption of access due to the damage caused by floods, especially in Gracias a Dios and the northern coastal area of Honduras.

3.3 Response to the food emergency in the framework of COVID-19 A rapid / multi-sectoral evaluation of the most affected areas is planned to start on Saturday 7th with the lead from COPECO, including elements to evaluate food assistance needs. Every effort is made by WFP not to interrupt food assistance that were already scheduled for the following week in response to the drought and COVID emergencies.

4. Procurement and Logistics In relation to the availability of emergency food stock, deliveries continued from providers to the Comayagua WFP warehouse. As of today noon the available stock was 852.20mt of rice out of a total expected of 1,189mt and 180mt of beans out of a total of 357mt. Communication has been carried out with food providers to ensure speedy delivery of the remaining quantities before the end of the weekend.

Steps are being taken to rapidly approve a budget revision of WFP operation in Honduras to include the a Service Provision component to be able to provide logistics services to other actors, mainly to support distribution of non-food items in response to the different emergencies.

5. Support Services 5.1 IT and Telecommunications On Wednesday, November 4, around 17.00, there were power cuts and fiber optic internet service outage that left sectors of the Atlantic coast incommunicado. The telephone companies worked at dawn and the service was restored around 06.00 the next morning. Currently the primary communication systems are working well throughout the country. Radio communication and satellite systems (voice and data), are operational, although they have not been necessary so far to maintain operational continuity. Today 46 portable VHF Radios are being distributed for the central office and four for field personnel to improve alternate solution in case of the collapse of public telecom systems. 32 tablets were also received and are being configured, which will be used for evaluation and monitoring activities.

6. Clusters

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• The United Nations Emergency Technical Team (UNETE) is providing the Government with information on the resources available to support response actions while awaiting evaluations to determine the possible scope of potential support for a request for assistance. • United Nations agencies are evaluating the personnel and logistical resources available for a rapid multi- sector needs assessment, in the most affected areas starting Friday, if access permits. In case Eta impacts require damage assessment, a working group has been established to plan post ETA assessments. • UNICEF, WFP and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report that they have pre-positioned supplies in high-risk areas.

Contact:

• Hector Cruz, Programme Officer ([email protected]) • Etienne Labande, DCD Honduras ([email protected])

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