CMAT/ HF Team arrives in Honduras – local roads impassable

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Traffic and Pedestrians are stranded on a major highway which was washed out by Hurricane Iota.

2020-11-17 – La Entrada, Honduras (With special thanks to the HF/CMAT Team Leader Brian Wilson for this update):

“This morning we woke up to find out that all internet into our region was down. This means that we had no wifi, and no cellular data, which is important because these days a LOT of coordination is done using WhatsApp which requires data. We went back to “old school” methods, like SMS messages and calling people… (sheesh, it’s like we were back in the dark ages!)

We requested that CICOM provide us with a police escort to get us the last 2.5 hours into San Pedro Sula. Unfortunately they told us the bridges were not passable. We then sent a team to investigate the situation first-hand, and found that 15 minutes out of town, the only highway was completely flooded. We explored options of trying to find another way, by going further south, but have been told that highway is also impassable.

In the meantime, using SMS to relay messages through another NGO, we confirmed that CICOM knew where we were, and they have now requested that we setup to provide medical clinics in the immediate region until access into San Pedro Sula can be logistically sorted out. We have been contacted by a local medical officer, who stated they would be in contact tomorrow to coordinate our efforts. Below is a short video showing the flooded road as viewed by our Deputy Team Lead, Hassan Naeem. Tomorrow is a new day, and the team looks forward to getting to work while we wait for instructions on how best to reach the hardest hit regions.”

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