Overflowing Lake Yojoa Floods 14 Honduran Communities, Affecting More Than 500 Families
Weeks of rain pushed the lake over its banks near Santa Cruz de Yojoa, covering a main road and sending some families to shelters.
See where this is ›SANTA CRUZ DE YOJOA, Honduras —
Lake Yojoa in west-central Honduras has spilled over its banks after weeks of rain, flooding about 14 communities around Santa Cruz de Yojoa in Cortés department and affecting more than 500 families, the Honduran newspaper La Prensa reported Oct. 26.
See where this is ›The water covered both lanes of the road between La Guama and Peña Blanca along a stretch of about 2 kilometers, putting small vehicles at serious risk and raising fears the area would be cut off. Drivers had been forced onto detours through Río Lindo or Caracol.
Local officials, government agencies and business owners worked together to raise the roadway with fill material and reopen it for now. Santa Cruz de Yojoa Mayor Marlon Pineda said crews were placing sandbags along the edge of the road to serve as a containment wall.
Pavel Amaya, an engineer with Honduras' Infrastructure and Transportation Secretariat (SIT) for the northwest zone, said a long-term plan calls for raising the road at its lowest points. Business owners have pointed out four other trouble spots, including a curve where accidents keep happening.
The town government is keeping a count of affected families and has handed out food, mattresses and other supplies, La Prensa reported. Some families have moved to shelters or to relatives' homes. Hotels and businesses in Peña Blanca, a lakeside tourist stop, are also threatened.
Pineda warned that repowering work on the turbines at the Cañaveral and Río Lindo hydroelectric plants could make the high water last longer. The national power company, ENEE, denies that work at the plants caused the flooding. The disaster agency Copeco is also involved in the response.
If the lake does not go down, officials said they will assess the needs of low-income families living in the most vulnerable areas. The same area saw flooding in September, when the Helado River overflowed in Los Naranjos and affected 75 families, according to Copeco.
