Totally Fine Foundation · Issue 012 · Red Alert / Drought

Honduras Drought Emergency

Last reviewed · Totally Fine Foundation editorial desk · 8 min

Honduras placed 75 drought-hit municipalities under a state of emergency with Executive Decree PCM-016-2026, signed on 18 August 2026 and published in La Gaceta on 19 August. The decree rests on the red alert COPECO declared for the same 75 municipalities on 18 August and runs for 120 days, to 16 December per the OPSAa registry. On 26 August COPECO raised 28 more municipalities to red alert, bringing the total to 103, according to Honduran media and UN OCHA. The Flash Appeal published on 22 September estimates 708,000 people in need across the 103 red-alert municipalities and asks for US$60 million to reach 538,000 of them. In early October COPECO said 233 municipalities remained under some drought alert and that the drought was not over.

Metrics

Honduras Drought Emergency: 75 Municipalities by Decree, 103 on Red Alert, a US$60 Million Appeal

Decree PCM-016-2026: a state of emergency in 75 red-alert municipalities

Executive Decree PCM-016-2026, signed in Tegucigalpa on 18 August 2026 and published in La Gaceta on 19 August, declares a state of emergency over meteorological drought in 75 municipalities of Choluteca, Comayagua, El Paraíso, Francisco Morazán, La Paz and Valle. The OPSAa registry lists its term as 120 days, from 18 August to 16 December 2026. According to OCHA, the declaration instructs authorities to secure funds and coordinate international cooperation.

Article 1 issues the emergency by virtue of the red alert COPECO declared on 18 August in Alert Bulletin No. 028-2026, which placed 75 municipalities on red alert, 71 on yellow and 88 on green. OCHA describes the 75 emergency municipalities as the municipalities under red alert. The decree text carries no list of names, but the count and the six departments match.

Article 1 also extends the emergency to any other part of the country that CENAOS technical reports identify while the decree is in force.

Sources: leyes.hn — Decree PCM-016-2026: Drought emergency in 75 Honduran municipalities; radiohrn.hn — Honduran News Report on Official Publication of the 19 August Drought Emergency Declaration; opsaa.iica.int — OPSAa registry entry: Executive Decree PCM-016-2026 drought emergency; reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency; reliefweb.int — IFRC DREF Operation MDRHN028: Honduras Drought Assessment 2026; elheraldo.hn — Copeco declares red alert in 75 Honduran municipalities for drought

The red alert widens from 75 to 103 municipalities

On 26 August COPECO raised 28 more municipalities to red alert, bringing the total to 103; OCHA's update of 28 August reports the same expansion. The list published that day adds Lempira, with 14 municipalities, and Intibucá, with 8, to the six departments named in the decree, and records 82 municipalities under yellow alert and 48 under green.

The sources reviewed do not say whether the decree was extended to the 28 added municipalities. According to the Flash Appeal, 5.6 million people live in the 233 municipalities in COPECO's alert system, 2.7 million of them in the 103 under red alert. In remarks reported on 6 October, the head of COPECO gave the same counts: 233 municipalities under alert, 103 of them on red.

Sources: latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Raises Red-Alert Municipalities to 103, 26 August 2026; tunota.com — Tunota: Updated List of Red, Yellow and Green Drought Alerts, 26 August 2026; reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 28 August 2026: Honduras Red Alert Expanded to 103 Municipalities; reliefweb.int — Honduras Drought Flash Appeal (full document, September 2026); latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Warns 5.6 Million Hondurans Remain Under Drought Alert, 6 October 2026

Needs: 708,000 people and a US$60 million Flash Appeal

The Flash Appeal published on 22 September estimates that 708,000 people need humanitarian assistance across the 103 red-alert municipalities and sets a requirement of US$60 million to reach 538,000 of them. It estimates that 621,651 people in those municipalities, about 138,145 households, face acute food insecurity at IPC Phase 3 or worse.

Nationwide, the latest IPC analysis cited by FAO GIEWS on 7 October projects about 1.88 million people, 18 percent of the analyzed population, in IPC Phase 3 or worse between August and October 2026, up from 1.62 million a year earlier. GIEWS expects the Primera maize harvest, about 70 percent of annual production, to be well below average.

Sources: reliefweb.int — Honduras Drought Flash Appeal (full document, September 2026); reliefweb.int — Honduras: Drought Flash Appeal, September 2026 (ReliefWeb summary); reliefweb.int — FAO GIEWS Country Brief: Honduras, 7 October 2026

Funding and early response

According to the Flash Appeal, CERF released US$4 million in anticipatory funding to WFP, UNICEF, PAHO and FAO to protect about 65,000 people once forecasts of severe below-average rainfall met the agreed triggers. The FAO and WHO project pages each cover five municipalities; the UNICEF page names two departments, El Paraíso and Francisco Morazán. All three ran from 5 March to 4 September 2026. OCHA reported on 21 August that CERF and Honduras Humanitarian Fund projects were active in 23 municipalities, 15 of them under red alert.

On 19 August the UN Resident Coordinator, Alejandro Álvarez, announced a further US$20 million, bringing UN resources mobilized for the drought to US$86 million, according to EFE; he described an earlier US$62 million directed at 33 municipalities, 11 of them under red alert. The IFRC approved CHF 856,326 for the Honduran Red Cross drought Early Action Protocol, in a summary dated 11 September. The sources reviewed do not reconcile these response footprints.

Sources: reliefweb.int — Honduras Drought Flash Appeal (full document, September 2026); cerf.un.org — CERF allocation window: FAO drought response project in Honduras; cerf.un.org — CERF allocation summary: UNICEF nutrition and WASH anticipatory action in Honduras; cerf.un.org — CERF allocation year: WHO health-sector anticipatory action in Honduras; reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency; laprensa.hn — La Prensa/EFE: UN Announces US$20 Million More for the Honduras Drought, 19 August 2026; reliefweb.int — IFRC Honduras Drought Early Action Protocol Summary, 11 September 2026 (MDRHN029)

Late-September rain, and a drought that is not over

FEWS NET reported on 5 October that late-September rainfall provided only limited relief to cumulative drought impacts while causing localized flooding in western Honduras, and that parts of Choluteca received less than 30 percent of average rainfall in September. It expects Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes among poor households in the Dry Corridor and the Gulf of Fonseca through October.

In remarks reported by La Tribuna on 6 October, the head of COPECO, Reinaldo Sánchez, said 233 municipalities, home to 5.6 million people, remained under some drought alert, 103 of them on red, and that the drought was not over.

Sources: reliefweb.int — FEWS NET Honduras Key Message Update, September 2026 to January 2027; latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Warns 5.6 Million Hondurans Remain Under Drought Alert, 6 October 2026

Claims and evidence

Honduras declared a drought state of emergency in 75 municipalities.

Claimant: Government of Honduras (Executive Decree PCM-016-2026).

Evidence status: confirmed

Counterclaim: No counterclaim documented in the verified record.

Independent assessment: The decree was signed on 18 August 2026 and published in La Gaceta on 19 August; OCHA dates the declaration to 19 August.

Sources: leyes.hn — Decree PCM-016-2026: Drought emergency in 75 Honduran municipalities; radiohrn.hn — Honduran News Report on Official Publication of the 19 August Drought Emergency Declaration; opsaa.iica.int — OPSAa registry entry: Executive Decree PCM-016-2026 drought emergency; reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency

The 75 municipalities under the state of emergency are the 75 that COPECO placed on red alert on 18 August 2026.

Claimant: Government of Honduras and UN OCHA.

Evidence status: confirmed

Counterclaim: No counterclaim documented in the verified record.

Independent assessment: Article 1 of the decree declares the emergency by virtue of COPECO's red alert in 75 municipalities of the same six departments, and its recitals say COPECO had held 75 municipalities in these departments on yellow alert since May before declaring the red alert. OCHA describes the 75 as municipalities under red alert. The decree text carries no list of names; El Heraldo published the 75 red-alert municipalities by name on 19 August.

Sources: leyes.hn — Decree PCM-016-2026: Drought emergency in 75 Honduran municipalities; reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency; reliefweb.int — IFRC DREF Operation MDRHN028: Honduras Drought Assessment 2026; elheraldo.hn — Copeco declares red alert in 75 Honduran municipalities for drought

The drought emergency was attributed to El Niño-linked drought conditions affecting water availability, agriculture, and food security.

Claimant: Government of Honduras and UN OCHA.

Evidence status: confirmed

Counterclaim: No counterclaim documented in the verified record.

Independent assessment: Multiple sources, including Swissinfo and El Heraldo, report the El Niño attribution; FAO GIEWS ties the food-security deterioration to El Niño's effect on the Primera harvest.

Sources: reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency; radiohrn.hn — Honduran News Report on Official Publication of the 19 August Drought Emergency Declaration; swissinfo.ch — Swissinfo/EFE Report: Honduras Declares Red Alert in 75 Municipalities Over El Niño-Linked Drought; elheraldo.hn — Drought's toll in Honduras's Dry Corridor: crop losses and water stress; reliefweb.int — FAO GIEWS Country Brief: Honduras, 7 October 2026

COPECO raised the red alert from 75 to 103 municipalities on 26 August 2026.

Claimant: COPECO, as reported by Honduran media and UN OCHA.

Evidence status: confirmed

Counterclaim: No counterclaim documented in the verified record.

Independent assessment: OCHA's 28 August update reports the expansion from 75 to 103. The 26 August list adds Lempira, with 14 municipalities, and Intibucá, with 8, to the six departments named in the decree.

Sources: latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Raises Red-Alert Municipalities to 103, 26 August 2026; tunota.com — Tunota: Updated List of Red, Yellow and Green Drought Alerts, 26 August 2026; reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 28 August 2026: Honduras Red Alert Expanded to 103 Municipalities

CERF and Honduras Humanitarian Fund response projects were active in 23 municipalities, including 15 under red alert, as of 21 August 2026.

Claimant: UN OCHA.

Evidence status: likely

Counterclaim: No direct counterclaim; on 19 August the UN Resident Coordinator gave a different municipality count: about US$62 million of UN resources for 33 municipalities, 11 of them under red alert.

Independent assessment: OCHA states the 23-municipality figure directly, but the sources reviewed do not itemize it or reconcile it with the 33 municipalities named by the Resident Coordinator, which cover all UN resources mobilized rather than CERF and fund projects alone. The FAO and WHO project pages each cover five municipalities; the UNICEF page names two departments, El Paraíso and Francisco Morazán. All three ran from 5 March to 4 September 2026.

Sources: reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency; laprensa.hn — La Prensa/EFE: UN Announces US$20 Million More for the Honduras Drought, 19 August 2026; cerf.un.org — CERF allocation window: FAO drought response project in Honduras

The drought was not over in early October 2026 despite late-September rain.

Claimant: COPECO and FEWS NET.

Evidence status: confirmed

Counterclaim: No counterclaim documented in the verified record.

Independent assessment: FEWS NET reports that late-September rainfall gave only limited relief and caused localized flooding in western Honduras, while parts of Choluteca received less than 30 percent of average September rainfall.

Sources: latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Warns 5.6 Million Hondurans Remain Under Drought Alert, 6 October 2026; reliefweb.int — FEWS NET Honduras Key Message Update, September 2026 to January 2027

Timeline

  1. — COPECO places 75 municipalities under red alert for drought

    On 18 August 2026 COPECO's Alert Bulletin No. 028-2026 placed 75 municipalities under red alert, 71 under yellow and 88 under green for drought, according to the IFRC and UN OCHA.

    Sources: reliefweb.int — IFRC DREF Operation MDRHN028: Honduras Drought Assessment 2026; reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency; elheraldo.hn — Copeco declares red alert in 75 Honduran municipalities for drought

  2. — Honduras declares drought emergency in 75 municipalities

    Executive Decree PCM-016-2026, signed on 18 August and published in La Gaceta on 19 August 2026, declared a state of emergency in the 75 red-alert municipalities and instructed authorities to secure funds and coordinate international cooperation, according to UN OCHA and Honduran reports.

    Sources: reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency; radiohrn.hn — Honduran News Report on Official Publication of the 19 August Drought Emergency Declaration; opsaa.iica.int — OPSAa registry entry: Executive Decree PCM-016-2026 drought emergency; leyes.hn — Decree PCM-016-2026: Drought emergency in 75 Honduran municipalities; reliefweb.int — IFRC DREF Operation MDRHN028: Honduras Drought Assessment 2026

  3. — COPECO raises the drought red alert to 103 municipalities

    On 26 August 2026 COPECO raised 28 more municipalities to red alert, including 14 in Lempira and 8 in Intibucá, for a total of 103; 82 municipalities were under yellow alert and 48 under green. OCHA reported the expansion on 28 August.

    Sources: latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Raises Red-Alert Municipalities to 103, 26 August 2026; tunota.com — Tunota: Updated List of Red, Yellow and Green Drought Alerts, 26 August 2026; reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 28 August 2026: Honduras Red Alert Expanded to 103 Municipalities

  4. — UN and partners publish a US$60 million drought Flash Appeal

    The Flash Appeal published on 22 September 2026 estimates 708,000 people in need across the 103 red-alert municipalities and asks for US$60 million to reach 538,000 of them.

    Sources: reliefweb.int — Honduras: Drought Flash Appeal, September 2026 (ReliefWeb summary); reliefweb.int — Honduras Drought Flash Appeal (full document, September 2026)

  5. — COPECO says the drought is not over

    COPECO's head said 233 municipalities, home to 5.6 million people, remained under a drought alert, 103 of them on red, and that the drought was not over; FEWS NET reported on 5 October that late-September rain brought only limited relief.

    Sources: latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Warns 5.6 Million Hondurans Remain Under Drought Alert, 6 October 2026; reliefweb.int — FEWS NET Honduras Key Message Update, September 2026 to January 2027

Open questions

  • Has Decree PCM-016-2026 been extended, under its Article 1, to the 28 municipalities COPECO added to the red alert on 26 August?
  • Will the state of emergency be renewed when its 120-day term ends in mid-December 2026 (16 December, per the OPSAa registry)?
  • How much of the US$60 million Flash Appeal has been funded?
  • How do OCHA's 23 municipalities with CERF and Honduras Humanitarian Fund projects relate to the 33 municipalities named by the UN Resident Coordinator?
  • How far below average will the Postrera harvest fall after planting delays through September?

Source registry

  1. reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency; humanitarian; 2026-08-21
  2. radiohrn.hn — Honduran News Report on Official Publication of the 19 August Drought Emergency Declaration; news; date not supplied
  3. swissinfo.ch — Swissinfo/EFE Report: Honduras Declares Red Alert in 75 Municipalities Over El Niño-Linked Drought; news; date not supplied
  4. proceso.hn — Conadeh Rights Alert on Climate Crisis and Food, Water, and Housing in Honduras, 1 August 2026; human_rights; date not supplied
  5. elheraldo.hn — Drought's toll in Honduras's Dry Corridor: crop losses and water stress; news; date not supplied
  6. opsaa.iica.int — OPSAa registry entry: Executive Decree PCM-016-2026 drought emergency; official_position; date not supplied
  7. leyes.hn — Decree PCM-016-2026: Drought emergency in 75 Honduran municipalities; primary_document; date not supplied
  8. elheraldo.hn — Copeco declares red alert in 75 Honduran municipalities for drought; news; date not supplied
  9. cerf.un.org — CERF allocation window: FAO drought response project in Honduras; humanitarian; date not supplied
  10. cerf.un.org — CERF allocation summary: UNICEF nutrition and WASH anticipatory action in Honduras; humanitarian; date not supplied
  11. cerf.un.org — CERF allocation year: WHO health-sector anticipatory action in Honduras; humanitarian; date not supplied
  12. fews.net — FEWS NET outlook: localized primera losses in western Dry Corridor; research; date not supplied
  13. actalliance.org — ACT Alliance Alert Note on Honduras Drought Emergency; humanitarian; date not supplied
  14. welthungerhilfe.org — Welthungerhilfe El Niño Briefing, August 2026; research; date not supplied
  15. reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 28 August 2026: Honduras Red Alert Expanded to 103 Municipalities; humanitarian; 2026-08-28
  16. reliefweb.int — Honduras: Drought Flash Appeal, September 2026 (ReliefWeb summary); humanitarian; 2026-09-22
  17. reliefweb.int — Honduras Drought Flash Appeal (full document, September 2026); humanitarian; 2026-09-22
  18. reliefweb.int — FAO GIEWS Country Brief: Honduras, 7 October 2026; humanitarian; 2026-10-07
  19. reliefweb.int — FEWS NET Honduras Key Message Update, September 2026 to January 2027; research; 2026-10-05
  20. reliefweb.int — IFRC DREF Operation MDRHN028: Honduras Drought Assessment 2026; humanitarian; 2026-08-24
  21. reliefweb.int — IFRC Honduras Drought Early Action Protocol Summary, 11 September 2026 (MDRHN029); humanitarian; 2026-09-14
  22. latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Raises Red-Alert Municipalities to 103, 26 August 2026; news; 2026-08-26
  23. tunota.com — Tunota: Updated List of Red, Yellow and Green Drought Alerts, 26 August 2026; news; 2026-08-26
  24. latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Warns 5.6 Million Hondurans Remain Under Drought Alert, 6 October 2026; news; 2026-10-06
  25. laprensa.hn — La Prensa/EFE: UN Announces US$20 Million More for the Honduras Drought, 19 August 2026; news; 2026-08-19

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