# Honduras Drought Emergency
- Canonical dossier: [Web edition]()
- Markdown edition: [Plain-text edition]()
- Issue: Issue 012
- Rubric: Red Alert / Drought
- Byline: Totally Fine Foundation editorial desk
- Reading time: 8 min
- Last reviewed: 2026-10-20
> 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.
## Cover
- Kicker: Field dossier / Latin America & Caribbean / drought emergency
- Cover lines: Seventy-five municipalities under a drought state of emergency: Decree PCM-016-2026, signed 18 August 2026 / The decree rests on COPECO's red alert for the same 75 municipalities, declared on 18 August / Red alert widened to 103 municipalities on 26 August, reaching Intibucá and Lempira / US$60 million Flash Appeal for 538,000 of the 708,000 people in need / An estimated 621,651 people in IPC Phase 3 or worse across the 103 red-alert municipalities / Late-September rain brought limited relief; COPECO said in October the drought was not over
#### Hero visual provenance
- Caption: Satellite image from NASA MODIS showing fires in Central America on 2 May 2026, used to illustrate drought-related conditions in the region.
- Alt text: NASA MODIS satellite image of fires in Central America, 2 May 2026.
- Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
- Rights / license: Public domain
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
## Metrics
### 75 municipalities — Municipalities under the drought state of emergency
- Category: Emergency declaration
- Caveat: Executive Decree PCM-016-2026, signed 18 August 2026 and published in La Gaceta on 19 August; 120 days, 18 August to 16 December 2026, per the OPSAa registry. Article 1 lets CENAOS technical reports add territory; the sources reviewed do not say whether the 28 municipalities added to the red alert on 26 August were brought under the decree.
**Source trail:** [leyes.hn — Decree PCM-016-2026: Drought emergency in 75 Honduran municipalities]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-leyes-hn`); [radiohrn.hn — Honduran News Report on Official Publication of the 19 August Drought Emergency Declaration]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-radiohrn-hn`); [opsaa.iica.int — OPSAa registry entry: Executive Decree PCM-016-2026 drought emergency]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-opsaa-iica-int`); [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-reliefweb-int`)
### 103 municipalities — Municipalities under COPECO red alert
- Category: Alert levels
- Caveat: Raised from 75 on 26 August 2026, per Honduran media and the UN OCHA update of 28 August; COPECO listed 82 municipalities under yellow alert and 48 under green the same day. COPECO's head gave the same 103 in remarks reported on 6 October.
**Source trail:** [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 28 August 2026: Honduras Red Alert Expanded to 103 Municipalities]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-weekly-2026-08-28`); [latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Raises Red-Alert Municipalities to 103, 26 August 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-latribuna-2026-08-26`); [tunota.com — Tunota: Updated List of Red, Yellow and Green Drought Alerts, 26 August 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-tunota-2026-08-26`); [latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Warns 5.6 Million Hondurans Remain Under Drought Alert, 6 October 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-latribuna-2026-10-06`)
### 708,000 people — People in need of humanitarian assistance
- Category: Humanitarian needs
- Caveat: Flash Appeal estimate across the 103 red-alert municipalities, September 2026; the appeal targets 538,000 of them. Government estimates cited in the appeal put 708,459 people in imminent crisis.
**Source trail:** [reliefweb.int — Honduras Drought Flash Appeal (full document, September 2026)]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-document-2026-09`); [reliefweb.int — Honduras: Drought Flash Appeal, September 2026 (ReliefWeb summary)]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-2026-09`)
### US$60 million — Flash Appeal requirement
- Category: Funding
- Caveat: Requirement of the Flash Appeal of the UN and its partners, published on 22 September 2026, to reach 538,000 targeted people; the sources reviewed give no funding level reached.
**Source trail:** [reliefweb.int — Honduras Drought Flash Appeal (full document, September 2026)]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-document-2026-09`); [reliefweb.int — Honduras: Drought Flash Appeal, September 2026 (ReliefWeb summary)]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-2026-09`)
### 621,651 people — People in IPC Phase 3 or worse in red-alert municipalities
- Category: Food security
- Caveat: Flash Appeal estimate, about 138,145 households, across the 103 red-alert municipalities; an estimate, not a head count.
**Source trail:** [reliefweb.int — Honduras Drought Flash Appeal (full document, September 2026)]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-document-2026-09`); [reliefweb.int — Honduras: Drought Flash Appeal, September 2026 (ReliefWeb summary)]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-2026-09`)
### About 1.88 million people — People projected in IPC Phase 3 or worse nationwide
- Category: Food security
- Caveat: IPC projection for August to October 2026, 18 percent of the analyzed population, as reported by FAO GIEWS on 7 October 2026; up from 1.62 million in the same period of 2025.
**Source trail:** [reliefweb.int — FAO GIEWS Country Brief: Honduras, 7 October 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-fao-giews-2026-10-07`)
## 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.
**Source trail:** [leyes.hn — Decree PCM-016-2026: Drought emergency in 75 Honduran municipalities]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-leyes-hn`); [radiohrn.hn — Honduran News Report on Official Publication of the 19 August Drought Emergency Declaration]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-radiohrn-hn`); [opsaa.iica.int — OPSAa registry entry: Executive Decree PCM-016-2026 drought emergency]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-opsaa-iica-int`); [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-reliefweb-int`); [reliefweb.int — IFRC DREF Operation MDRHN028: Honduras Drought Assessment 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ifrc-dref-mdrhn028`); [elheraldo.hn — Copeco declares red alert in 75 Honduran municipalities for drought]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-elheraldo-hn-2`)
### 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.
**Source trail:** [latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Raises Red-Alert Municipalities to 103, 26 August 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-latribuna-2026-08-26`); [tunota.com — Tunota: Updated List of Red, Yellow and Green Drought Alerts, 26 August 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-tunota-2026-08-26`); [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 28 August 2026: Honduras Red Alert Expanded to 103 Municipalities]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-weekly-2026-08-28`); [reliefweb.int — Honduras Drought Flash Appeal (full document, September 2026)]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-document-2026-09`); [latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Warns 5.6 Million Hondurans Remain Under Drought Alert, 6 October 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-latribuna-2026-10-06`)
### 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.
**Source trail:** [reliefweb.int — Honduras Drought Flash Appeal (full document, September 2026)]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-document-2026-09`); [reliefweb.int — Honduras: Drought Flash Appeal, September 2026 (ReliefWeb summary)]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-2026-09`); [reliefweb.int — FAO GIEWS Country Brief: Honduras, 7 October 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-fao-giews-2026-10-07`)
### 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.
**Source trail:** [reliefweb.int — Honduras Drought Flash Appeal (full document, September 2026)]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-document-2026-09`); [cerf.un.org — CERF allocation window: FAO drought response project in Honduras]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-cerf-un-org`); [cerf.un.org — CERF allocation summary: UNICEF nutrition and WASH anticipatory action in Honduras]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-cerf-un-org-2`); [cerf.un.org — CERF allocation year: WHO health-sector anticipatory action in Honduras]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-cerf-un-org-3`); [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-reliefweb-int`); [laprensa.hn — La Prensa/EFE: UN Announces US$20 Million More for the Honduras Drought, 19 August 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-laprensa-2026-08-19`); [reliefweb.int — IFRC Honduras Drought Early Action Protocol Summary, 11 September 2026 (MDRHN029)]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ifrc-eap-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.
**Source trail:** [reliefweb.int — FEWS NET Honduras Key Message Update, September 2026 to January 2027]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-fews-net-2026-09`); [latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Warns 5.6 Million Hondurans Remain Under Drought Alert, 6 October 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-latribuna-2026-10-06`)
## Actors and positions
### Government of Honduras
- Role: National executive authority
- Confidence: high
- Position: Declared a state of emergency over drought in 75 municipalities by Executive Decree PCM-016-2026, signed on 18 August and published on 19 August 2026, and instructed authorities to secure funds and coordinate international cooperation.
- Supporter framing: Presents the drought as an El Niño-linked emergency requiring national funds and international cooperation.
- Opposing account: No opposing account documented in the verified record.
- Independent assessment: UN OCHA and Honduran reports corroborate the declaration; the decree ties it to COPECO's red alert.
**Source trail:** [leyes.hn — Decree PCM-016-2026: Drought emergency in 75 Honduran municipalities]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-leyes-hn`); [radiohrn.hn — Honduran News Report on Official Publication of the 19 August Drought Emergency Declaration]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-radiohrn-hn`); [opsaa.iica.int — OPSAa registry entry: Executive Decree PCM-016-2026 drought emergency]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-opsaa-iica-int`); [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-reliefweb-int`)
### UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
- Role: Humanitarian reporting and coordination
- Confidence: high
- Position: Reported the declaration on 21 August and the expansion of the red alert to 103 municipalities on 28 August 2026; the Flash Appeal published on 22 September asks for US$60 million.
- Supporter framing: Reports alert counts, needs and funding requirements as humanitarian updates.
- Opposing account: No opposing account documented in the verified record.
- Independent assessment: Tier 1 humanitarian source; its needs figures are estimates drawn from government and IPC data.
**Source trail:** [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-reliefweb-int`); [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 28 August 2026: Honduras Red Alert Expanded to 103 Municipalities]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-weekly-2026-08-28`); [reliefweb.int — Honduras: Drought Flash Appeal, September 2026 (ReliefWeb summary)]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-2026-09`); [reliefweb.int — Honduras Drought Flash Appeal (full document, September 2026)]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-document-2026-09`)
### CERF and Honduras Humanitarian Fund
- Role: Humanitarian funding mechanisms
- Confidence: medium
- Position: OCHA reported their projects active in 23 municipalities, including 15 under red alert, on 21 August; CERF released US$4 million in anticipatory funding to WFP, UNICEF, PAHO and FAO.
- Supporter framing: Frames the projects as drought response in affected municipalities.
- Opposing account: No opposing account documented in the verified record.
- Independent assessment: The FAO and WHO project pages cover five municipalities each and the UNICEF page two departments; all three ended on 4 September 2026. The 23-municipality footprint is not itemized in the sources reviewed.
**Source trail:** [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-reliefweb-int`); [reliefweb.int — Honduras Drought Flash Appeal (full document, September 2026)]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-document-2026-09`); [cerf.un.org — CERF allocation window: FAO drought response project in Honduras]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-cerf-un-org`)
### COPECO (Secretariat for Risk Management and Contingencies)
- Role: National risk management authority
- Confidence: high
- Position: Declared a red alert for 75 municipalities on 18 August 2026 in Alert Bulletin No. 028-2026, raised it to 103 municipalities on 26 August, and said in early October that the drought was not over.
- Supporter framing: Presents alert levels as a response to drought conditions.
- Opposing account: No opposing account documented in the verified record.
- Independent assessment: The 18 August red alert is the basis of the emergency decree; OCHA reports the 26 August expansion.
**Source trail:** [reliefweb.int — IFRC DREF Operation MDRHN028: Honduras Drought Assessment 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ifrc-dref-mdrhn028`); [elheraldo.hn — Copeco declares red alert in 75 Honduran municipalities for drought]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-elheraldo-hn-2`); [latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Raises Red-Alert Municipalities to 103, 26 August 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-latribuna-2026-08-26`); [latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Warns 5.6 Million Hondurans Remain Under Drought Alert, 6 October 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-latribuna-2026-10-06`)
## 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.
**Source trail:** [leyes.hn — Decree PCM-016-2026: Drought emergency in 75 Honduran municipalities]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-leyes-hn`); [radiohrn.hn — Honduran News Report on Official Publication of the 19 August Drought Emergency Declaration]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-radiohrn-hn`); [opsaa.iica.int — OPSAa registry entry: Executive Decree PCM-016-2026 drought emergency]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-opsaa-iica-int`); [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-reliefweb-int`)
### 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.
**Source trail:** [leyes.hn — Decree PCM-016-2026: Drought emergency in 75 Honduran municipalities]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-leyes-hn`); [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-reliefweb-int`); [reliefweb.int — IFRC DREF Operation MDRHN028: Honduras Drought Assessment 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ifrc-dref-mdrhn028`); [elheraldo.hn — Copeco declares red alert in 75 Honduran municipalities for drought]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-elheraldo-hn-2`)
### 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.
**Source trail:** [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-reliefweb-int`); [radiohrn.hn — Honduran News Report on Official Publication of the 19 August Drought Emergency Declaration]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-radiohrn-hn`); [swissinfo.ch — Swissinfo/EFE Report: Honduras Declares Red Alert in 75 Municipalities Over El Niño-Linked Drought]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-swissinfo-ch`); [elheraldo.hn — Drought's toll in Honduras's Dry Corridor: crop losses and water stress]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-elheraldo-hn`); [reliefweb.int — FAO GIEWS Country Brief: Honduras, 7 October 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-fao-giews-2026-10-07`)
### 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.
**Source trail:** [latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Raises Red-Alert Municipalities to 103, 26 August 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-latribuna-2026-08-26`); [tunota.com — Tunota: Updated List of Red, Yellow and Green Drought Alerts, 26 August 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-tunota-2026-08-26`); [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 28 August 2026: Honduras Red Alert Expanded to 103 Municipalities]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-weekly-2026-08-28`)
### 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.
**Source trail:** [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-reliefweb-int`); [laprensa.hn — La Prensa/EFE: UN Announces US$20 Million More for the Honduras Drought, 19 August 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-laprensa-2026-08-19`); [cerf.un.org — CERF allocation window: FAO drought response project in Honduras]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-cerf-un-org`)
### 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.
**Source trail:** [latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Warns 5.6 Million Hondurans Remain Under Drought Alert, 6 October 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-latribuna-2026-10-06`); [reliefweb.int — FEWS NET Honduras Key Message Update, September 2026 to January 2027]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-fews-net-2026-09`)
## Language record
### UN OCHA
- Role: Humanitarian coordination
- Context: From the UN OCHA weekly situation update for Latin America and the Caribbean dated 28 August 2026.
Quotation text is available in the web edition and the cited original source; it is not republished in this machine-readable edition.
**Source:** [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 28 August 2026: Honduras Red Alert Expanded to 103 Municipalities]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-weekly-2026-08-28`)
### FEWS NET
- Role: Food security early warning
- Context: From the FEWS NET Key Message Update for Honduras, September 2026 to January 2027, published on 5 October 2026.
Quotation text is available in the web edition and the cited original source; it is not republished in this machine-readable edition.
**Source:** [reliefweb.int — FEWS NET Honduras Key Message Update, September 2026 to January 2027]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-fews-net-2026-09`)
## Timeline
### 2026-08-18 — COPECO places 75 municipalities under red alert for drought
- Event type: disaster\_update
- Confidence: high
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.
**Source trail:** [reliefweb.int — IFRC DREF Operation MDRHN028: Honduras Drought Assessment 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ifrc-dref-mdrhn028`); [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-reliefweb-int`); [elheraldo.hn — Copeco declares red alert in 75 Honduran municipalities for drought]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-elheraldo-hn-2`)
### 2026-08-19 — Honduras declares drought emergency in 75 municipalities
- Event type: disaster\_update
- Confidence: high
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.
**Source trail:** [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-reliefweb-int`); [radiohrn.hn — Honduran News Report on Official Publication of the 19 August Drought Emergency Declaration]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-radiohrn-hn`); [opsaa.iica.int — OPSAa registry entry: Executive Decree PCM-016-2026 drought emergency]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-opsaa-iica-int`); [leyes.hn — Decree PCM-016-2026: Drought emergency in 75 Honduran municipalities]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-leyes-hn`); [reliefweb.int — IFRC DREF Operation MDRHN028: Honduras Drought Assessment 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ifrc-dref-mdrhn028`)
### 2026-08-26 — COPECO raises the drought red alert to 103 municipalities
- Event type: disaster\_update
- Confidence: high
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.
**Source trail:** [latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Raises Red-Alert Municipalities to 103, 26 August 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-latribuna-2026-08-26`); [tunota.com — Tunota: Updated List of Red, Yellow and Green Drought Alerts, 26 August 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-tunota-2026-08-26`); [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 28 August 2026: Honduras Red Alert Expanded to 103 Municipalities]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-weekly-2026-08-28`)
### 2026-09-22 — UN and partners publish a US$60 million drought Flash Appeal
- Event type: international\_response
- Confidence: high
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.
**Source trail:** [reliefweb.int — Honduras: Drought Flash Appeal, September 2026 (ReliefWeb summary)]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-2026-09`); [reliefweb.int — Honduras Drought Flash Appeal (full document, September 2026)]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-document-2026-09`)
### 2026-10-06 — COPECO says the drought is not over
- Event type: disaster\_update
- Confidence: high
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.
**Source trail:** [latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Warns 5.6 Million Hondurans Remain Under Drought Alert, 6 October 2026]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-latribuna-2026-10-06`); [reliefweb.int — FEWS NET Honduras Key Message Update, September 2026 to January 2027]() (`src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-fews-net-2026-09`)
## Visual essay
### Gallery image 01
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: A CIAT image used to illustrate drought-affected conditions in Central America.
- Alt text: CIAT photograph referenced in the Honduras drought dossier.
- Credit: CIAT
- Rights / license: CC BY-SA 2.0
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
## Linked visual references
### Drought's toll in Honduras's Dry Corridor: crop losses and water stress
- Photographer: El Heraldo staff
- Publisher: El Heraldo
- Recognition: Standing visual documentation of drought impacts in Honduras's Dry Corridor
- Why it matters: Photo gallery documenting crop losses and water stress in the drought-affected Dry Corridor.
- Original: [Open reference]()
### Honduras Declares Red Alert in 75 Municipalities Over El Niño-Linked Drought
- Photographer: EFE
- Publisher: swissinfo.ch
- Recognition: Core international wire report on the drought emergency declaration
- Why it matters: International news report confirming the red alert and El Niño link.
- Original: [Open reference]()
## Media desk
### Dust Storm over Bolivia
- Publisher: Jeff Schmaltz
- Media type: photo
- Rights mode: direct\_image
- Placement: Decree PCM-016-2026: a state of emergency in 75 red-alert municipalities
- Caption: Satellite image of a dust storm over Bolivia, credited to Jeff Schmaltz.
- Why it matters: Regional satellite reference for dry-season atmospheric conditions in Latin America; it does not show Honduras.
The image shows a dust storm over Bolivia in a NASA satellite view. It is a regional reference for dry atmospheric conditions in Latin America, not a picture of the Honduran drought.
- Original: [Open media record]()
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: Satellite image of a dust storm over Bolivia, credited to Jeff Schmaltz.
- Alt text: Satellite image of a dust storm over Bolivia, credited to Jeff Schmaltz.
- Credit: Jeff Schmaltz
- Rights / license: Public domain
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
### Travis delivers humanitarian aid to Central America (8566733)
- Publisher: U.S. Air Force
- Media type: photo
- Rights mode: direct\_image
- Placement: Funding and early response
- Caption: U.S. Air Force photograph of humanitarian aid delivery to Central America, credited to Hun Chustine Minoda.
- Why it matters: Shows humanitarian response operations relevant to the drought emergency.
The photograph documents U.S. Air Force humanitarian aid delivery to Central America. It illustrates the type of international cooperation referenced in the drought response. The dossier reports CERF and the Honduras Humanitarian Fund active in 23 municipalities.
- Original: [Open media record]()
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: U.S. Air Force photograph of humanitarian aid delivery to Central America, credited to Hun Chustine Minoda.
- Alt text: U.S. Air Force photograph of humanitarian aid delivery to Central America, credited to Hun Chustine Minoda.
- Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Hun Chustine Minoda
- Rights / license: Public domain
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
### UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update: Honduras Drought Emergency and Regional Severe Weather, 21 August 2026
- Publisher: reliefweb.int
- Media type: report\_pdf
- Rights mode: linked\_reference\_only
- Placement: Decree PCM-016-2026: a state of emergency in 75 red-alert municipalities
- Caption: UN OCHA update of 21 August 2026 reports the 19 August drought emergency declaration and alert snapshot.
- Why it matters: Authoritative UN situation update confirming the emergency and alert levels.
The OCHA update of 21 August 2026 reports that Honduras declared a state of emergency on 19 August in 75 municipalities under red alert for drought. It records the 18 August alert snapshot of 75 red, 71 yellow and 88 green, which COPECO revised on 26 August when the red alert reached 103 municipalities.
- Original: [Open media record]()
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: UN OCHA update of 21 August 2026 reports the 19 August drought emergency declaration and alert snapshot.
- Alt text: UN OCHA update of 21 August 2026 reports the 19 August drought emergency declaration and alert snapshot.
- Credit: Totally Fine Foundation
- Rights / license: Project editorial graphic; original source(s) linked
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
### Decree PCM-016-2026: Drought emergency in 75 Honduran municipalities
- Publisher: leyes.hn
- Media type: report\_pdf
- Rights mode: linked\_reference\_only
- Placement: Decree PCM-016-2026: a state of emergency in 75 red-alert municipalities
- Caption: Official publication of Executive Decree PCM-016-2026 declaring drought emergency in 75 municipalities.
- Why it matters: Legal instrument instructing authorities to secure funds and coordinate international cooperation.
The decree formalizes the drought emergency in 75 municipalities by virtue of COPECO's red alert. It was signed on 18 August and published on 19 August 2026, and it instructs authorities to secure funds and coordinate international cooperation.
- Original: [Open media record]()
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: Official publication of Executive Decree PCM-016-2026 declaring drought emergency in 75 municipalities.
- Alt text: Official publication of Executive Decree PCM-016-2026 declaring drought emergency in 75 municipalities.
- Credit: Totally Fine Foundation
- Rights / license: Project editorial graphic; original source(s) linked
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
## Source readings
### OCHA: emergency declared in 75 red-alert municipalities
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-reliefweb-int`
- Publisher: reliefweb.int
- Source type: humanitarian
- Published: 2026-08-21
- Registry title: UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency
- Editorial note: Read this as a dated humanitarian snapshot of 21 August; its separate figures for Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia are outside this dossier.
- Original: [Open source]()
The 21 August OCHA update records the drought emergency in 75 red-alert municipalities and the response footprint at that date.
According to the UN OCHA update of 21 August 2026, the Government of Honduras declared a state of emergency on 19 August in 75 municipalities under red alert for drought, instructing authorities to secure funds and coordinate international cooperation.
OCHA ties the declaration to a worsening El Niño-linked drought that had also placed 71 municipalities under yellow alert and 88 under green since 18 August. It reports that response projects under CERF and the Honduras Humanitarian Fund were active in 23 of these municipalities, including 15 under red alert.
The same update carries figures for severe weather in Costa Rica and Panama and for the 10 August earthquake in western Colombia; those are not part of this dossier. Its alert counts were overtaken on 26 August, when COPECO raised the red alert to 103 municipalities.
#### Takeaways
- OCHA describes the 75 emergency municipalities as the municipalities under red alert.
- The 18 August snapshot was 75 red, 71 yellow and 88 green; the red count rose to 103 on 26 August.
- The 23-municipality CERF and Honduras Humanitarian Fund footprint is OCHA's figure as of 21 August.
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: UN OCHA confirms 75 municipalities under drought emergency on 19 Aug 2026
- Alt text: UN OCHA confirms 75 municipalities under drought emergency on 19 Aug 2026
- Credit: Totally Fine Foundation
- Rights / license: Project editorial graphic; original source(s) linked
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
### Honduran government formalizes drought emergency for 75 municipalities
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-radiohrn-hn`
- Publisher: radiohrn.hn
- Source type: news
- Registry title: Honduran News Report on Official Publication of the 19 August Drought Emergency Declaration
- Editorial note: Read this as a domestic confirmation of the declaration's official publication; it does not supply the alert-level snapshot or humanitarian response coverage.
- Original: [Open source]()
A Honduran news item reports the official gazette publication of the 19 August 2026 emergency declaration covering 75 municipalities.
This Honduran news report states that the government formalized the drought state of emergency in 75 municipalities: the decree was issued in Tegucigalpa on 18 August 2026 and appeared in the official gazette, La Gaceta, on 19 August. The publication date matches the declaration recorded by UN OCHA.
The report attributes the year's conditions to a warmer and drier climate associated with the transition to a moderate El Niño event. It does not include the 18 August alert counts of 75 red, 71 yellow and 88 green, nor the reported 23-municipality humanitarian response coverage; those are documented in other sources.
Use this item to confirm the formal publication of the emergency measure, not to assess response scale or alert levels.
#### Takeaways
- The report confirms the official publication of the 19 August 2026 emergency declaration for 75 municipalities.
- It does not provide the 75/71/88 alert snapshot or the 23/15 response coverage figures.
- Keep this domestic confirmation separate from OCHA's regional humanitarian data.
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: Honduran report on official publication of 19 Aug drought emergency decree
- Alt text: Honduran report on official publication of 19 Aug drought emergency decree
- Credit: Totally Fine Foundation
- Rights / license: Project editorial graphic; original source(s) linked
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
### Honduras puts 75 municipalities on red alert over El Niño drought
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-swissinfo-ch`
- Publisher: swissinfo.ch
- Source type: news
- Registry title: Swissinfo/EFE Report: Honduras Declares Red Alert in 75 Municipalities Over El Niño-Linked Drought
- Editorial note: Read this as an international wire report on the 19 August declaration and El Niño link; it does not carry the full 75/71/88 alert snapshot or response coverage. The report's 'red alert' wording should be read alongside the confirmed emergency declaration for the same 75 municipalities.
- Original: [Open source]()
A 19 August 2026 Swissinfo/EFE report places the emergency in the Dry Corridor and ties it to El Niño-linked water scarcity affecting crops.
Published on 19 August 2026, this Swissinfo/EFE report states that the Honduran government declared red alert in 75 municipalities in the central and southern Dry Corridor because of drought associated with the El Niño climate phenomenon, with water scarcity seriously affecting crops.
This supports the confirmed 19 August 2026 emergency declaration and the attribution to El Niño-linked drought conditions. It does not provide the 18 August 2026 alert counts of 71 Yellow and 88 Green, nor the reported 23-municipality humanitarian response coverage.
Use this source for the geographic and climatic framing of the emergency, not for the full alert-level or response data.
#### Takeaways
- The report confirms the 19 August 2026 red alert declaration for 75 municipalities and the El Niño link.
- It locates the affected area in the central and southern Dry Corridor.
- It omits the 71 Yellow/88 Green counts and the 23/15 response coverage figures.
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: Swissinfo/EFE reports red alert in 75 municipalities over El Niño drought
- Alt text: Swissinfo/EFE reports red alert in 75 municipalities over El Niño drought
- Credit: Totally Fine Foundation
- Rights / license: Project editorial graphic; original source(s) linked
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
### Honduran rights ombudsman warns climate crisis threatens food, water, and housing
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-proceso-hn`
- Publisher: proceso.hn
- Source type: human\_rights
- Registry title: Conadeh Rights Alert on Climate Crisis and Food, Water, and Housing in Honduras, 1 August 2026
- Editorial note: Read this as a pre-emergency rights framing from 1 August 2026; it predates the 19 August declaration and contains none of the emergency or alert metrics.
- Original: [Open source]()
A 1 August 2026 Proceso Digital report records Conadeh's warning that the climate crisis is undermining rights to food, water, and housing in Honduras.
This human rights report, published on 1 August 2026, says Conadeh warned that the climate crisis is undermining the rights to food, water, and housing in Honduras. It was issued before the 19 August 2026 drought emergency declaration and before the 18 August 2026 alert snapshot.
The piece does not contain the 75/71/88 alert counts, the 75 emergency municipalities, or the reported 23-municipality humanitarian response coverage. It also does not specify the El Niño-linked drought conditions documented in the 19 August emergency reports.
Use this source as context for the rights framing of climate-related pressures, not as a data source for the drought emergency or response scale.
#### Takeaways
- The report is dated 1 August 2026, before the 19 August emergency declaration and the 18 August alert snapshot.
- It records a rights-based warning on food, water, and housing but provides no emergency or alert metrics.
- Do not use it to establish the El Niño link or the 23/15 response coverage.
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: Conadeh alert links climate crisis to food, water, housing rights
- Alt text: Conadeh alert links climate crisis to food, water, housing rights
- Credit: Totally Fine Foundation
- Rights / license: Project editorial graphic; original source(s) linked
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
### Crop losses and dwindling water in the Dry Corridor
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-elheraldo-hn`
- Publisher: elheraldo.hn
- Source type: news
- Registry title: Drought's toll in Honduras's Dry Corridor: crop losses and water stress
- Editorial note: Read as a field report from a Honduran news outlet; the excerpt is truncated and should not be used for decree details or alert counts.
- Original: [Open source]()
A Honduran news report documents drought impacts in the Dry Corridor, where water shortages have hit crops, rivers, and livestock.
This El Heraldo report describes drought damage in Honduras's Dry Corridor: crop losses, reduced river flows, and livestock stress, with water for human consumption now at risk. The evidence excerpt is truncated and does not include dated figures.
The conditions align with the attribution of the drought emergency to El Niño-linked drought affecting water availability, agriculture, and food security. The emergency decree for 75 municipalities was signed on 18 August and published on 19 August 2026.
The gallery text refers to 75 municipalities declared on yellow alert by COPECO, while COPECO's bulletin of 18 August placed 75 municipalities on red alert. Use this source for field-level impact, not for alert levels.
#### Takeaways
- The report offers on-the-ground evidence of crop failure and water stress in the Dry Corridor.
- It does not include the emergency decree text or alert-level breakdown.
- Its excerpt is truncated; treat livestock and water details as partial reporting.
- Use alongside official documents for the legal scope of the 19 August 2026 emergency.
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: Drought toll in Dry Corridor: crop losses and water stress
- Alt text: Drought toll in Dry Corridor: crop losses and water stress
- Credit: Totally Fine Foundation
- Rights / license: Project editorial graphic; original source(s) linked
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
### Registry records 120-day drought emergency in 75 municipalities
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-opsaa-iica-int`
- Publisher: opsaa.iica.int
- Source type: official\_position
- Registry title: OPSAa registry entry: Executive Decree PCM-016-2026 drought emergency
- Editorial note: Read as an official registry summary of the decree; it provides dates and departmental scope but not the full legal text or response details.
- Original: [Open source]()
An OPSAa/IICA entry summarizes Executive Decree PCM-016-2026, declaring a meteorological drought emergency in 75 municipalities across six departments.
The entry identifies Executive Decree No. PCM-016-2026 and records a 120-day state of emergency for meteorological drought, with a start date of 18 August 2026 and an end date of 16 December 2026.
It lists 75 municipalities in Choluteca, Comayagua, El Paraíso, Francisco Morazán, La Paz, and Valle as affected. UN OCHA, in its update of 21 August, dates the national declaration to 19 August 2026.
The entry does not include alert-level counts or response project coverage. The decree's 75 municipalities are the 75 COPECO placed on red alert on 18 August; the red alert later widened to 103 municipalities on 26 August.
Use this source for the decree's administrative scope and dates, not for impact figures or humanitarian response details.
#### Takeaways
- The registry entry confirms the decree number and 120-day duration.
- It names six departments and 75 municipalities covered by the emergency.
- It does not provide alert-level data or response project figures.
- The decree's effective start date is listed as 18 August 2026, while the declaration was reported on 19 August 2026.
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: Registry entry for Executive Decree PCM-016-2026 drought emergency
- Alt text: Registry entry for Executive Decree PCM-016-2026 drought emergency
- Credit: Totally Fine Foundation
- Rights / license: Project editorial graphic; original source(s) linked
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
### Decree PCM-016-2026: emergency in 75 red-alert municipalities
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-leyes-hn`
- Publisher: leyes.hn
- Source type: primary\_document
- Registry title: Decree PCM-016-2026: Drought emergency in 75 Honduran municipalities
- Editorial note: Published text of the decree (English rendering on leyes.hn); the original appeared in La Gaceta No. 37,224 of 19 August 2026. Read it for the scope of the emergency, its link to COPECO's red alert and the institutional setup.
- Original: [Open source]()
The decree ties the emergency to COPECO's red alert and assigns the drought response to a technical committee coordinated by COPECO.
Executive Decree PCM-016-2026 declares a state of emergency over meteorological drought in 75 municipalities of Choluteca, Comayagua, El Paraíso, Francisco Morazán, La Paz and Valle. Article 1 issues it by virtue of the red alert declared by COPECO, the Secretariat for Risk Management and National Contingencies, and extends it to any other area that technical reports from CENAOS identify while the decree is in force.
The decree cites Articles 3, 4, 7, 9, 14, 15, and 24 of the Law of the National Risk Management System (SINAGER) and Article 9 of the Law of National Contingencies. Its recitals state that an inter-institutional technical committee for comprehensive drought management had been formed under COPECO; Article 2 has COPECO, the agriculture ministry (SAG) and the committee's institutions carry out a Comprehensive Drought Management Plan.
The decree was signed on 18 August 2026 and published in La Gaceta on 19 August. It does not itself give alert counts, affected populations or response figures; those come from COPECO, OCHA and the Flash Appeal.
#### Takeaways
- The decree is the legal basis for the drought emergency in 75 municipalities.
- Article 1 ties the emergency to COPECO's red alert and lets CENAOS reports add territory.
- Article 2 tasks COPECO, SAG and the committee's institutions with a Comprehensive Drought Management Plan.
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: Decree PCM-016-2026 declares drought emergency in 75 municipalities
- Alt text: Decree PCM-016-2026 declares drought emergency in 75 municipalities
- Credit: Totally Fine Foundation
- Rights / license: Project editorial graphic; original source(s) linked
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
### Red alert declared for 75 drought-hit municipalities
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-elheraldo-hn-2`
- Publisher: elheraldo.hn
- Source type: news
- Registry title: Copeco declares red alert in 75 Honduran municipalities for drought
- Editorial note: Read as a news report on COPECO's 18 August red alert, the basis of the emergency decree; it does not cover response projects.
- Original: [Open source]()
El Heraldo reports that Copeco declared a red alert for 75 municipalities, with southern and central departments hardest hit.
This El Heraldo report, updated 19 August 2026 at 06:10, states that the Secretariat of Risk Management and Contingencies (Copeco) declared a red alert for 75 municipalities in Honduras due to drought.
It identifies southern and central departments as the most affected. The alert snapshot as of 18 August 2026 included 75 municipalities under Red Alert, 71 under Yellow Alert, and 88 under Green Alert, according to UN OCHA and Honduran reports.
The emergency decree published on 19 August rests on this red alert and covers the same 75 municipalities. The decree instructed authorities to secure funds and coordinate international cooperation.
This source does not provide response project coverage. CERF and Honduras Humanitarian Fund response projects were reported as active in 23 municipalities, including 15 under Red Alert; that figure is reported and likely, and should be labeled as such.
#### Takeaways
- The report confirms the red alert declaration for 75 municipalities.
- It highlights southern and central departments as hardest hit.
- The 75 red-alert municipalities are the basis of the emergency decree; the red alert widened to 103 on 26 August.
- Response coverage figures are reported and likely, not confirmed in this source.
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: Copeco declares red alert in 75 municipalities for drought
- Alt text: Copeco declares red alert in 75 municipalities for drought
- Credit: Totally Fine Foundation
- Rights / license: Project editorial graphic; original source(s) linked
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
### A single FAO grant appears in this CERF allocation window
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-cerf-un-org`
- Publisher: cerf.un.org
- Source type: humanitarian
- Registry title: CERF allocation window: FAO drought response project in Honduras
- Editorial note: Read this as a funding registry entry; it shows an allocation, not implementation or beneficiary reach.
- Original: [Open source]()
The page lists one Honduras project but does not confirm field-level coverage or results.
This CERF allocation window lists a single Honduras project: a $1,200,000 grant to FAO for protecting food and nutrition security and the livelihoods of smallholder farming households from agricultural drought in 5 municipalities in the dry corridor (project code CERF-HND-26-RR-FAO-39155).
The page is a registry entry, not a field report. It does not show whether the project was active in the 23 municipalities reported for CERF and Honduras Humanitarian Fund response projects, including 15 under Red Alert; that figure is reported and likely, and this source does not substantiate it. The project ran from 5 March to 4 September 2026.
Honduras declared a drought-related state of emergency in 75 municipalities on 19 August 2026, according to the UN OCHA update and Honduran reports. As of 18 August 2026, the country had 75 municipalities under Red Alert, 71 under Yellow Alert, and 88 under Green Alert. The 5 municipalities named in this project title are a narrower scope and do not cover the full emergency or alert counts.
#### Takeaways
- The source records one CERF grant to FAO, not a confirmed operational footprint.
- The $1,200,000 grant targets 5 dry-corridor municipalities in El Paraíso and Francisco Morazán, a narrower scope than the 75 emergency municipalities.
- The reported 23-municipality/15-Red-Alert coverage figure is likely and not evidenced by this allocation page.
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: CERF FAO drought response project reported active in Honduras
- Alt text: CERF FAO drought response project reported active in Honduras
- Credit: Totally Fine Foundation
- Rights / license: Project editorial graphic; original source(s) linked
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
### UNICEF grant listed for nutrition and WASH anticipatory action
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-cerf-un-org-2`
- Publisher: cerf.un.org
- Source type: humanitarian
- Registry title: CERF allocation summary: UNICEF nutrition and WASH anticipatory action in Honduras
- Editorial note: Use this to identify the UNICEF allocation and sectors; do not infer implementation or geographic coverage from it.
- Original: [Open source]()
The summary records a $800,000 rapid-response allocation but not where or whether it was delivered.
This CERF allocation summary lists a $800,000 grant to UNICEF for a nutrition and WASH anticipatory action response for children and women in drought-affected areas of Honduras (project code CERF-HND-26-RR-CEF-39154). The entry records emergency type as drought and window as rapid response.
The page is a project summary, not an implementation report. It does not show the reported 23 municipalities where CERF and Honduras Humanitarian Fund response projects were active, including 15 under Red Alert; that figure is reported and likely, and this source does not substantiate it. The project ran from 5 March to 4 September 2026.
Honduras declared a drought-related state of emergency in 75 municipalities on 19 August 2026, according to the UN OCHA update and Honduran reports. As of 18 August 2026, alert levels were 75 Red, 71 Yellow, and 88 Green. The UNICEF project summary does not specify which of those municipalities it covers, so it cannot be read as covering the full emergency or alert counts.
#### Takeaways
- The source records a UNICEF rapid-response grant of $800,000 for nutrition and WASH anticipatory action.
- It identifies sectors and emergency type but not field-level coverage or results.
- The 23-municipality/15-Red-Alert response figure is likely and not evidenced by this summary.
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: CERF UNICEF nutrition and WASH anticipatory action in Honduras
- Alt text: CERF UNICEF nutrition and WASH anticipatory action in Honduras
- Credit: Totally Fine Foundation
- Rights / license: Project editorial graphic; original source(s) linked
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
### WHO grant listed for health-sector anticipatory action
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-cerf-un-org-3`
- Publisher: cerf.un.org
- Source type: humanitarian
- Registry title: CERF allocation year: WHO health-sector anticipatory action in Honduras
- Editorial note: Treat as a funding registry entry; it shows an allocation, not operational coverage.
- Original: [Open source]()
The record names five affected municipalities but does not confirm delivery or results.
This CERF allocation record lists a $400,000 grant to WHO for an anticipatory action project to mitigate the humanitarian impact of forecasted drought in the health sector in five affected municipalities (project code CERF-HND-26-RR-WHO-39157). The entry records emergency type as drought and window as rapid response.
The page is an allocation record, not a field report. It does not show the reported 23 municipalities where CERF and Honduras Humanitarian Fund response projects were active, including 15 under Red Alert; that figure is reported and likely, and this source does not substantiate it. The project ran from 5 March to 4 September 2026.
Honduras declared a drought-related state of emergency in 75 municipalities on 19 August 2026, according to the UN OCHA update and Honduran reports. As of 18 August 2026, alert levels were 75 Red, 71 Yellow, and 88 Green. The five municipalities named in this project title are a narrower scope and do not cover the full emergency or alert counts.
#### Takeaways
- The source records a WHO rapid-response grant of $400,000 for health-sector anticipatory action.
- It identifies five affected municipalities but does not confirm delivery or results.
- The 23-municipality/15-Red-Alert response figure is likely and not evidenced by this allocation record.
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: CERF WHO health-sector anticipatory action in Honduras
- Alt text: CERF WHO health-sector anticipatory action in Honduras
- Credit: Totally Fine Foundation
- Rights / license: Project editorial graphic; original source(s) linked
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
### Most of Honduras projected to remain Stressed through January
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-fews-net`
- Publisher: fews.net
- Source type: research
- Registry title: FEWS NET outlook: localized primera losses in western Dry Corridor
- Editorial note: Read as the July food security outlook; the September 2026 Key Message Update supersedes it on rainfall and on outcomes through October.
- Original: [Open source]()
The outlook reports poor rainfall and localized primera losses but does not cover emergency or response metrics.
This FEWS NET outlook covers July 2026 through January 2027 and reports that poor rainfall performance is driving localized primera losses in the western Dry Corridor. It projects that most of Honduras is expected to remain Stressed (IPC Phase 2) through January.
The source is a food security projection, not an emergency declaration or response registry. It does not show the 75 municipalities under a drought-related state of emergency declared on 19 August 2026, nor the alert snapshot of 75 Red, 71 Yellow, and 88 Green as of 18 August 2026; those figures come from UN OCHA and Honduran reports.
Honduras's drought emergency was attributed to El Niño-linked drought conditions affecting water availability, agriculture, and food security, according to UN OCHA and Honduran reports. This FEWS NET outlook describes rainfall performance and crop losses but does not itself confirm the El Niño attribution or the reported 23-municipality/15-Red-Alert response coverage, which is likely and not evidenced here.
#### Takeaways
- The source projects most of Honduras to remain Stressed (IPC Phase 2) through January, based on the July 2026–January 2027 outlook.
- It reports localized primera losses in the western Dry Corridor from poor rainfall performance.
- It does not cover the 75 emergency municipalities or the 23/15 response coverage figure; those are separate reported metrics.
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: FEWS NET outlook notes localized primera losses in western Dry Corridor
- Alt text: FEWS NET outlook notes localized primera losses in western Dry Corridor
- Credit: Totally Fine Foundation
- Rights / license: Project editorial graphic; original source(s) linked
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
### Honduras drought alert frames severe food insecurity in the Corredor Seco
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-actalliance-org`
- Publisher: actalliance.org
- Source type: humanitarian
- Registry title: ACT Alliance Alert Note on Honduras Drought Emergency
- Editorial note: Read this as an operational alert framing the 2026 lean season and dry spell; it does not itself provide the dated alert counts or emergency declaration figures, so keep it apart from OCHA's confirmed numbers.
- Original: [Open source]()
An ACT Alliance alert note describes an ongoing 2026 lean season and prolonged mid-summer dry spell as a severe food crisis, consistent with confirmed El Niño-linked drought reporting.
According to the alert note, Honduras is facing one of its most severe food crises in recent years, with a rapid and verified deterioration in food security that is particularly severe in the country's Corredor Seco. The note attributes the emergency to drought associated with El Niño and a rainy season that began poorly, matching confirmed reporting that the Honduran drought emergency was attributed to El Niño-linked conditions affecting water availability, agriculture, and food security.
The alert note does not itself provide the 75-municipality emergency declaration of 19 August 2026 or the 75 Red Alert, 71 Yellow Alert, and 88 Green Alert municipalities reported as of 18 August 2026 by UN OCHA and Honduran outlets. Those alert counts are a snapshot as of 18 August 2026 and do not cover later changes. The reported CERF and Honduras Humanitarian Fund response coverage in 23 municipalities, including 15 under Red Alert, is likely and reported, not confirmed by this alert note.
#### Takeaways
- The alert note frames the Honduras drought as an ongoing 2026 lean season and prolonged mid-summer dry spell emergency, not a single rapid-onset event.
- Its El Niño-linked drought framing is consistent with confirmed reporting, but the note does not independently confirm the 75 emergency municipalities or the 75/71/88 alert snapshot.
- Keep the alert note's operational framing separate from OCHA's dated alert counts and the likely, reported 23/15 response coverage figure.
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: ACT Alliance alert on Honduras drought emergency
- Alt text: ACT Alliance alert on Honduras drought emergency
- Credit: Totally Fine Foundation
- Rights / license: Project editorial graphic; original source(s) linked
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
### El Niño briefing stresses probability over certainty for drought outcomes
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-welthungerhilfe-org`
- Publisher: welthungerhilfe.org
- Source type: research
- Registry title: Welthungerhilfe El Niño Briefing, August 2026
- Editorial note: Read this as a methodological briefing on forecast uncertainty; it does not confirm specific Honduran alert counts, the emergency declaration, or response coverage, and should not be treated as a situation report.
- Original: [Open source]()
A Welthungerhilfe research briefing from August 2026 cautions that seasonal forecasts show increased probabilities, not certainties, and that local drought outcomes depend on multiple climate and vulnerability factors.
The briefing states that seasonal forecasts indicate increased probabilities, not certainties, and that local outcomes will depend on the timing and strength of El Niño, interaction with other climate drivers such as the Indian Ocean Dipole, sub-seasonal rainfall variability, local hydrological and agricultural conditions, exposure, vulnerability, and existing humanitarian stressors.
This probabilistic framing is consistent with confirmed reporting that the Honduran drought emergency was attributed to El Niño-linked drought conditions, but the briefing does not state the 75 municipalities under a drought-related state of emergency declared on 19 August 2026, nor the 75 Red Alert, 71 Yellow Alert, and 88 Green Alert municipalities reported as of 18 August 2026 by UN OCHA and Honduran outlets. Those alert counts are a snapshot as of 18 August 2026 and do not cover later changes.
The briefing also does not cover the reported CERF and Honduras Humanitarian Fund response projects in 23 municipalities, including 15 under Red Alert; that figure remains likely and reported, not confirmed by this source.
#### Takeaways
- The briefing's core message is that El Niño seasonal forecasts are probabilistic, not deterministic, and local impacts depend on multiple factors.
- It does not provide or confirm the 75 emergency municipalities, the 75/71/88 alert snapshot, or the 23/15 response coverage figure.
- Use this source to understand forecast uncertainty, not to verify Honduras-specific drought emergency numbers.
#### Visual provenance
- Caption: Welthungerhilfe El Niño briefing on drought implications
- Alt text: Welthungerhilfe El Niño briefing on drought implications
- Credit: Totally Fine Foundation
- Rights / license: Project editorial graphic; original source(s) linked
- Asset: [View image]()
- Original / provenance: [Open source]()
### OCHA: Honduras red alert widened from 75 to 103 municipalities
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-weekly-2026-08-28`
- Publisher: reliefweb.int
- Source type: humanitarian
- Published: 2026-08-28
- Registry title: UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 28 August 2026: Honduras Red Alert Expanded to 103 Municipalities
- Editorial note: Read this as OCHA's dated confirmation that the red alert grew from 75 to 103 municipalities; it does not say whether the emergency decree was extended.
- Original: [Open source]()
OCHA's 28 August update records the jump from 75 to 103 red-alert municipalities a week after the emergency decree.
The OCHA weekly update for Latin America and the Caribbean dated 28 August 2026 reports that Honduras expanded its emergency red alert from 75 to 103 municipalities that week, building on the drought emergency it declared on 19 August.
The same update reports that El Salvador and Panama declared nationwide states of emergency on 25 August to speed up their drought response; those declarations are not part of this dossier.
The update gives the new red-alert total but not the list of added municipalities or any change to the decree. The list and the yellow and green counts come from COPECO, as reported by Honduran media on 26 August.
#### Takeaways
- OCHA confirms the red alert grew from 75 to 103 municipalities in the week to 28 August 2026.
- OCHA frames the expansion as building on the 19 August drought emergency.
- The update does not say whether the decree itself was extended to the added municipalities.
### Flash Appeal: 233 of 298 municipalities under drought alert
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-2026-09`
- Publisher: reliefweb.int
- Source type: humanitarian
- Published: 2026-09-22
- Registry title: Honduras: Drought Flash Appeal, September 2026 (ReliefWeb summary)
- Editorial note: Read this as the summary of the Flash Appeal; the full appeal document carries the requirement and targets.
- Original: [Open source]()
The appeal summary sets the scale of the drought response: 233 municipalities under alert, 103 on red.
The Flash Appeal summary published on ReliefWeb on 22 September 2026 states that by 16 September drought alerts covered 233 of Honduras's 298 municipalities, concentrated in the Dry Corridor, including 103 municipalities under red alert.
It cites government estimates that 5.6 million people live in municipalities affected by drought alerts, of whom 708,459 are classified as facing an imminent crisis. It also states that 621,651 people across the 103 red-alert municipalities are experiencing acute food insecurity at IPC Phase 3 or worse.
The summary is an appeal for funds, not an outcome report. Its population figures are estimates drawn from government and IPC data.
#### Takeaways
- By 16 September 2026, 233 of 298 municipalities were under a drought alert, 103 of them on red.
- Government estimates put 708,459 people in imminent crisis.
- An estimated 621,651 people in the red-alert municipalities face IPC Phase 3 or worse.
### US$60 million appeal for 538,000 people
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-document-2026-09`
- Publisher: reliefweb.int
- Source type: humanitarian
- Published: 2026-09-22
- Registry title: Honduras Drought Flash Appeal (full document, September 2026)
- Editorial note: Primary appeal document. Read it for the requirement, targets and the anticipatory CERF allocation; its needs figures are estimates.
- Original: [Open source]()
The full Flash Appeal asks for US$60 million to reach 538,000 of the 708,000 people it estimates are in need.
The appeal document estimates that 708,000 people need humanitarian assistance across the 103 municipalities under red alert and sets a requirement of US$60 million to reach 538,000 targeted people.
It states that 5.6 million people live in the 233 municipalities in COPECO's alert system, 2.7 million of them in the 103 red-alert municipalities, and that an estimated 621,651 people, about 138,145 households, in those municipalities face acute food insecurity at IPC Phase 3 or worse.
The document also records that CERF released US$4 million to WFP, UNICEF, PAHO and FAO to protect about 65,000 people once anticipatory-action triggers were met, after forecasts of severe below-average rainfall during the Primera season in El Paraíso and Francisco Morazán.
#### Takeaways
- Requirement: US$60 million; 708,000 people in need; 538,000 targeted.
- 2.7 million people live in the 103 red-alert municipalities.
- CERF released US$4 million in anticipatory funding to four UN agencies for about 65,000 people.
### 1.88 million people projected in IPC Phase 3 or worse
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-fao-giews-2026-10-07`
- Publisher: reliefweb.int
- Source type: humanitarian
- Published: 2026-10-07
- Registry title: FAO GIEWS Country Brief: Honduras, 7 October 2026
- Editorial note: Read this as FAO's national food-security picture; its IPC figure is a projection for August to October 2026.
- Original: [Open source]()
FAO projects about 1.88 million Hondurans in IPC Phase 3 or worse for August to October 2026.
The FAO GIEWS country brief of 7 October 2026 reports that, according to the latest IPC analysis, about 1.88 million people, 18 percent of the analyzed population, are projected to face acute food insecurity at IPC Phase 3 or worse between August and October 2026, up from 1.62 million, or 17 percent, in the same period of 2025.
GIEWS attributes the deterioration largely to the effect of El Niño on Primera season production, particularly among subsistence farmers in the Dry Corridor, and to rising prices of food and agricultural inputs. It expects the 2026 Primera maize harvest, about 70 percent of annual production, to be well below average.
The brief is a national food-security assessment. Its IPC projection covers the whole analyzed population, not only the municipalities under drought alert.
#### Takeaways
- About 1.88 million people (18 percent) are projected in IPC Phase 3 or worse for August to October 2026.
- That is up from 1.62 million in the same period of 2025.
- The Primera maize harvest, about 70 percent of annual output, is expected to be well below average.
### Late rain eases little; Crisis outcomes persist through October
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-fews-net-2026-09`
- Publisher: reliefweb.int
- Source type: research
- Published: 2026-10-05
- Registry title: FEWS NET Honduras Key Message Update, September 2026 to January 2027
- Editorial note: Read this as the current FEWS NET outlook; it supersedes the July update on rainfall and on phase outcomes through October.
- Original: [Open source]()
FEWS NET expects Crisis outcomes in the Dry Corridor through October; late rain brought limited relief.
The FEWS NET Key Message Update for Honduras, published on ReliefWeb on 5 October 2026, reports that quotation omitted from the machine-readable edition, driven by El Niño-related crop losses, high staple food prices and high living costs.
It reports 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. Postrera planting faced continued delays through September, raising the likelihood of below-average production in many rainfed areas.
The update is a food-security outlook, not a count of affected people or municipalities.
#### Takeaways
- Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes persist among poor households in the Dry Corridor and Gulf of Fonseca through October.
- Late-September rain gave limited relief and caused localized flooding in western Honduras.
- Parts of Choluteca received less than 30 percent of average September rainfall.
### COPECO Alert Bulletin No. 028-2026 behind the 18 August alert
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ifrc-dref-mdrhn028`
- Publisher: reliefweb.int
- Source type: humanitarian
- Published: 2026-08-24
- Registry title: IFRC DREF Operation MDRHN028: Honduras Drought Assessment 2026
- Editorial note: Read this for the COPECO bulletin behind the 18 August alert counts; the one-million affected figure is a preliminary COPECO estimate.
- Original: [Open source]()
The IFRC names the COPECO bulletin that set the 18 August alert levels: 75 red, 71 yellow, 88 green.
The IFRC DREF operation document for a drought needs assessment in Honduras, published on 24 August 2026, records the trigger for its response: on 18 August 2026 COPECO, through Alert Bulletin No. 028-2026, declared a red alert for 75 municipalities, a yellow alert for 71 and a green alert for 88 because of drought linked to El Niño.
The document also cites COPECO information, reported on 4 August, that around 1 million people were directly affected by the drought. The IFRC describes that figure as a preliminary estimate.
The operation funds an assessment by the Honduran Red Cross, not a full response. Use it for the bulletin number and the 18 August counts, not for current alert levels, which changed on 26 August.
#### Takeaways
- COPECO Alert Bulletin No. 028-2026 of 18 August set 75 red, 71 yellow and 88 green alerts.
- COPECO's preliminary estimate of around 1 million people directly affected dates from early August.
- The alert counts in this document predate the 26 August expansion to 103 red-alert municipalities.
### CHF 856,326 approved for drought early action
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ifrc-eap-mdrhn029`
- Publisher: reliefweb.int
- Source type: humanitarian
- Published: 2026-09-14
- Registry title: IFRC Honduras Drought Early Action Protocol Summary, 11 September 2026 (MDRHN029)
- Editorial note: Read this as a funding approval for early action; it does not report actions delivered.
- Original: [Open source]()
The IFRC approved CHF 856,326 for the Honduran Red Cross drought early action plan.
The IFRC Early Action Protocol summary dated 11 September 2026, published on 14 September, states that the IFRC's Disaster Response Emergency Fund has approved CHF 856,326 for the Honduran Red Cross Early Action Plan: CHF 368,466 for readiness and pre-positioning and CHF 487,861 for early actions once the defined triggers are met.
The protocol prioritizes communities in areas historically hit by severe drought, including the departments of Choluteca, Valle, Lempira, Francisco Morazán, Comayagua, Yoro, La Paz, Intibucá, El Paraíso and Olancho.
The summary records an allocation and its trigger design. It does not report how much has been spent or how many people have been reached.
#### Takeaways
- CHF 856,326 approved under DREF MDRHN029: CHF 368,466 for readiness, CHF 487,861 for triggered early action.
- Priority departments include Lempira and Intibucá, outside the decree's six departments.
- The summary is an approval, not a delivery report.
### Red alert raised to 103 municipalities
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-latribuna-2026-08-26`
- Publisher: latribuna.hn
- Source type: news
- Published: 2026-08-26
- Registry title: La Tribuna: COPECO Raises Red-Alert Municipalities to 103, 26 August 2026
- Editorial note: Read as a domestic report of COPECO's 26 August decision; the exact list is in the tunota report of the same day.
- Original: [Open source]()
COPECO added 28 municipalities to the red alert on 26 August, taking the total to 103.
This La Tribuna report of 26 August 2026 states that COPECO raised another 28 municipalities to red alert that Wednesday because of the prolonged drought associated with El Niño, bringing the total to 103.
It names Comayagua, El Paraíso, Lempira, La Paz, Francisco Morazán, Valle and Intibucá among the departments with red-alert municipalities; Choluteca appears in the full list published the same day by tunota.com.
The report concerns the alert system. It does not say whether the 19 August emergency decree was extended to the added municipalities.
#### Takeaways
- COPECO raised 28 more municipalities to red alert on 26 August 2026.
- The red-alert total became 103.
- The report does not address the scope of the emergency decree.
### 103 red, 82 yellow, 48 green
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-tunota-2026-08-26`
- Publisher: tunota.com
- Source type: news
- Published: 2026-08-26
- Registry title: Tunota: Updated List of Red, Yellow and Green Drought Alerts, 26 August 2026
- Editorial note: Read for the municipality-by-department list after the 26 August expansion; it is a media transcription of COPECO's list.
- Original: [Open source]()
The 26 August list puts 103 municipalities on red alert, 82 on yellow and 48 on green.
This Honduran news report of 26 August 2026 lists the 103 municipalities under red alert by department: Choluteca 16, Comayagua 4, El Paraíso 16, Francisco Morazán 23, La Paz 13, Valle 9, Intibucá 8 and Lempira 14.
It also reports 82 municipalities under yellow alert and 48 under green. Intibucá and Lempira are not among the six departments named in the emergency decree of 18 August.
The list is a media transcription of COPECO's update. It does not give populations or say whether the emergency decree covers the added municipalities.
#### Takeaways
- Red-alert municipalities by department after 26 August: Choluteca 16, Comayagua 4, El Paraíso 16, Francisco Morazán 23, La Paz 13, Valle 9, Intibucá 8, Lempira 14.
- 82 municipalities were under yellow alert and 48 under green.
- Intibucá and Lempira joined the red alert outside the decree's six departments.
### COPECO: the drought is not over
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-latribuna-2026-10-06`
- Publisher: latribuna.hn
- Source type: news
- Published: 2026-10-06
- Registry title: La Tribuna: COPECO Warns 5.6 Million Hondurans Remain Under Drought Alert, 6 October 2026
- Editorial note: Read as a news report of the official position of COPECO's head in early October; the counts match the Flash Appeal.
- Original: [Open source]()
COPECO's head said in early October that 233 municipalities remained under drought alert and the drought was not over.
In this La Tribuna report of 6 October 2026, Reinaldo Sánchez, the Secretary of State for Risk Management and National Contingencies (COPECO), says 233 municipalities, home to 5.6 million people, remain under some form of drought alert, 103 of them on red.
Sánchez stresses that the drought problem has not ended. He says authorities have supported about 40 municipalities and, with the United Nations and other institutions, aim to complete support in the red-alert localities and extend it to other municipalities that need it.
The report records an official statement. It gives no new decree and no breakdown of the support delivered.
#### Takeaways
- 233 municipalities and 5.6 million people under a drought alert, 103 municipalities on red, as of early October.
- COPECO's head says the drought has not ended.
- Authorities report support to about 40 municipalities so far.
### UN adds US$20 million; US$86 million mobilized
- Registry ID: `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-laprensa-2026-08-19`
- Publisher: laprensa.hn
- Source type: news
- Published: 2026-08-19
- Registry title: La Prensa/EFE: UN Announces US$20 Million More for the Honduras Drought, 19 August 2026
- Editorial note: Read as a news report of the UN Resident Coordinator's funding statement; its 33-municipality footprint differs from OCHA's 23.
- Original: [Open source]()
The UN Resident Coordinator put UN resources mobilized for the drought at US$86 million on 19 August.
This La Prensa report of 19 August 2026, based on EFE, states that the UN Resident Coordinator in Honduras, Alejandro Álvarez, announced a further US$20 million to mitigate the drought, bringing the resources mobilized by the UN for the emergency to US$86 million.
Álvarez said the UN had already mobilized about US$62 million for 33 municipalities, 11 of them under red alert, and later directed another US$4 million from the Regional Humanitarian Fund to five municipalities as anticipatory action.
These are announced and mobilized amounts, not disbursements. The 33-municipality footprint differs from the 23 municipalities with CERF and Honduras Humanitarian Fund projects that OCHA reported on 21 August; the sources reviewed do not reconcile the two.
#### Takeaways
- UN resources mobilized for the drought reached US$86 million after a further US$20 million on 19 August.
- An earlier US$62 million was directed at 33 municipalities, 11 under red alert.
- The figures are announcements, not disbursements.
## Analysis shelf
### Honduras Key Message Update: Poor households face an extended lean season amid reduced harvests and high costs
- Publisher: FEWS NET via reliefweb.int
- Type: report
- Why it matters: Current outlook: Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes in the Dry Corridor and Gulf of Fonseca through October, with limited relief from late rain.
- Position note: FEWS NET outlook for September 2026 to January 2027; covers rainfall, harvests and phase outcomes, not municipality counts.
- Original: [Open source]()
### GIEWS Country Brief: Honduras, 7 October 2026
- Publisher: FAO GIEWS via reliefweb.int
- Type: report
- Why it matters: Projects about 1.88 million people in IPC Phase 3 or worse for August to October 2026 and a well below-average Primera maize harvest.
- Position note: FAO national food-security assessment; its IPC projection covers the whole analyzed population.
- Original: [Open source]()
### Poor rainfall performance drives localized primera losses in the western Dry Corridor
- Publisher: fews.net
- Type: report
- Why it matters: July outlook that projected most of Honduras to remain Stressed (IPC Phase 2) through January 2027; superseded by the September update.
- Position note: FEWS NET research perspective; covers western Dry Corridor rainfall and IPC outcomes, not the emergency declaration or response funding.
- Original: [Open source]()
### El Nino Briefing August 2026
- Publisher: welthungerhilfe.org
- Type: report
- Why it matters: Explains that seasonal forecasts indicate probabilities, not certainties, and lists local factors that shape drought outcomes.
- Position note: Welthungerhilfe research briefing; scope is forecast uncertainty and drivers, not verified impact counts or alert status.
- Original: [Open source]()
### Honduras: Latin America & The Caribbean Weekly Situation Update as of 21 August 2026
- Publisher: reliefweb.int
- Type: report
- Why it matters: UN OCHA weekly update recording the drought emergency in 75 red-alert municipalities.
- Position note: UN OCHA perspective as of 21 August 2026; alert counts were overtaken on 26 August.
- Original: [Open source]()
## Media shelf
### Decree of emergency for drought in 75 municipalities published in La Gaceta
- Publisher: radiohrn.hn
- Type: media
- Why it matters: Reports the official publication of Executive Decree PCM-016-2026 in the official gazette.
- Position note: Linked news reference from HRN; not hosted material; covers decree publication, not independent verification or response details.
- Original: [Open source]()
### Honduras declares red alert in 75 municipalities due to drought associated with El Niño
- Publisher: swissinfo.ch
- Type: media
- Why it matters: EFE-based report on the red alert declaration and the El Niño attribution.
- Position note: Linked news reference from Swissinfo; not hosted material; covers declaration and attribution, not response outcomes.
- Original: [Open source]()
### Red alert declared for 75 municipalities in Honduras due to drought
- Publisher: elheraldo.hn
- Type: media
- Why it matters: Reports COPECO's declaration of red alert for 75 municipalities.
- Position note: Linked news reference from El Heraldo; not hosted material; covers alert declaration, not the emergency decree or project-level facts.
- Original: [Open source]()
## 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
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-reliefweb-int` — [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 21 August 2026: Honduras Drought Emergency](); humanitarian; 2026-08-21
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-radiohrn-hn` — [radiohrn.hn — Honduran News Report on Official Publication of the 19 August Drought Emergency Declaration](); news; date not supplied
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-swissinfo-ch` — [swissinfo.ch — Swissinfo/EFE Report: Honduras Declares Red Alert in 75 Municipalities Over El Niño-Linked Drought](); news; date not supplied
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-proceso-hn` — [proceso.hn — Conadeh Rights Alert on Climate Crisis and Food, Water, and Housing in Honduras, 1 August 2026](); human\_rights; date not supplied
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-elheraldo-hn` — [elheraldo.hn — Drought's toll in Honduras's Dry Corridor: crop losses and water stress](); news; date not supplied
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-opsaa-iica-int` — [opsaa.iica.int — OPSAa registry entry: Executive Decree PCM-016-2026 drought emergency](); official\_position; date not supplied
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-leyes-hn` — [leyes.hn — Decree PCM-016-2026: Drought emergency in 75 Honduran municipalities](); primary\_document; date not supplied
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-elheraldo-hn-2` — [elheraldo.hn — Copeco declares red alert in 75 Honduran municipalities for drought](); news; date not supplied
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-cerf-un-org` — [cerf.un.org — CERF allocation window: FAO drought response project in Honduras](); humanitarian; date not supplied
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-cerf-un-org-2` — [cerf.un.org — CERF allocation summary: UNICEF nutrition and WASH anticipatory action in Honduras](); humanitarian; date not supplied
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-cerf-un-org-3` — [cerf.un.org — CERF allocation year: WHO health-sector anticipatory action in Honduras](); humanitarian; date not supplied
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-fews-net` — [fews.net — FEWS NET outlook: localized primera losses in western Dry Corridor](); research; date not supplied
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-actalliance-org` — [actalliance.org — ACT Alliance Alert Note on Honduras Drought Emergency](); humanitarian; date not supplied
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-welthungerhilfe-org` — [welthungerhilfe.org — Welthungerhilfe El Niño Briefing, August 2026](); research; date not supplied
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-weekly-2026-08-28` — [reliefweb.int — UN OCHA Weekly Situation Update, 28 August 2026: Honduras Red Alert Expanded to 103 Municipalities](); humanitarian; 2026-08-28
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-2026-09` — [reliefweb.int — Honduras: Drought Flash Appeal, September 2026 (ReliefWeb summary)](); humanitarian; 2026-09-22
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ocha-flash-appeal-document-2026-09` — [reliefweb.int — Honduras Drought Flash Appeal (full document, September 2026)](); humanitarian; 2026-09-22
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-fao-giews-2026-10-07` — [reliefweb.int — FAO GIEWS Country Brief: Honduras, 7 October 2026](); humanitarian; 2026-10-07
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-fews-net-2026-09` — [reliefweb.int — FEWS NET Honduras Key Message Update, September 2026 to January 2027](); research; 2026-10-05
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ifrc-dref-mdrhn028` — [reliefweb.int — IFRC DREF Operation MDRHN028: Honduras Drought Assessment 2026](); humanitarian; 2026-08-24
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-ifrc-eap-mdrhn029` — [reliefweb.int — IFRC Honduras Drought Early Action Protocol Summary, 11 September 2026 (MDRHN029)](); humanitarian; 2026-09-14
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-latribuna-2026-08-26` — [latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Raises Red-Alert Municipalities to 103, 26 August 2026](); news; 2026-08-26
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-tunota-2026-08-26` — [tunota.com — Tunota: Updated List of Red, Yellow and Green Drought Alerts, 26 August 2026](); news; 2026-08-26
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-latribuna-2026-10-06` — [latribuna.hn — La Tribuna: COPECO Warns 5.6 Million Hondurans Remain Under Drought Alert, 6 October 2026](); news; 2026-10-06
- `src-honduras-drought-emergency-2026-laprensa-2026-08-19` — [laprensa.hn — La Prensa/EFE: UN Announces US$20 Million More for the Honduras Drought, 19 August 2026](); news; 2026-08-19