This situation is not at all being covered by the news media in the U.S.

There is currently heavy flooding and infrastructure damage over large portions of Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, and Costa Rica. The president of Honduras has called a nationwide state of emergency and has ordered numerous measures be taken, including the use of special funds for emergency repairs, food, and housing; and directing private contractors to cease work on contracted jobs so that they shall attend to emergencies.

There have been heavy rains for several weeks, and a tropical storm 91L has sat off the north coast for the past several days. The Humuya River in northern Honduras is normally 2 feet deep, NOAA reports that it is currently 21 feet deep. Wunderground.com reports over a foot of rain in the past week, 70 communities in Guatemala cut off from the rest of the country, and some areas of Honduras are seeing worse flooding than from Hurricane Mitch of 1998.

COPECO, the Honduran emergency management authority, reports 133 damaged roads including 54 damaged bridges and vados (low areas of the road designed to drain off water). COPECO reports that 142,000 people have been significantly affected and 22,000 evacuated. The Ulua River has flooded much of the city of El Progresso near San Pedro Sula.

The main highway between San Pedro Sula and the capital Tegucigalpa is in a bad state near Comayagua, some cars can pass but the trucks are shut down. As a result, there is no fuel in some areas. Parts of Tegucigalpa and its sister city Comayaguela are flooded. The roads around Marale, an area between Guaimaca and Yoro, are impassable. I spoke to my contacts near Guaimaca by cell phone yesterday and they said there is a bridge out near Guayape, a ways east of Marale. It is likely this large area, serviced only by dirt roads, is in a bad state. However, I am told that the Talanga/Guiamaca area has received heavy rain but minimal damage.

Roads near Nueva Ocotopeque, Copan Ruinas, and Santa Barbara de Copan, which include the main entrances to Honduras from Guatemala and El Salvador, are in a bad state and may not be passable.

In Guatemala, the president has declared emergencies for 21 municipalities in the northeast. The emergency management authority reports that there are over 40,000 victims including 10,200 evacuees and 4368 damaged homes.

In Costa Rica, the emergency management authority reports 80,000 significantly affected by the flooding and widespread infrastructure damage.

Reports of heavy damage in Belize, but no details.

There is another tropical storm "43" forming in the area now.

This summary is my best attempt with the limited info at this time, and taking into account that my Spanish is mediocre.

I rode through Chiapas and Guatemala a week after Hurricane Stan (also ignored by the media in the U.S.), and I can testify that these flooding events are devastating. I have not heard reports on how Chiapas has been affected by this latest flooding, but there are certainly vulnerable areas.

I am packed and ready to return to Honduras, but at this time I am waiting for waters to recede and emergency repairs. The route does not seem to be passable at this time, based on these cited reports.

If anyone has more info or specifics, please post.