Hurricane Mitch: The Underlying Causes
Hurricane Mitch formed over the Caribbean Sea and hit Central America in October 1998, reaching wind speeds of 180mph.
There was a very hot summer which allowed sea temperatures in the Caribbean to reach 27°C. This meant there was a lot of evaporation of water vapour which caused the air above the sea to become humid and damp. The air above the sea begins to rise as it is very hot which causes an area of low pressure to form. Air was sucked in over the sea to replace the rising air and a tropical depression was formed which is the first stage in hurricane formation.
Winds became stronger and stronger as air rose more rapidly and so the movement of air to replace it became faster also. As a result air starts to spiral as well as increase in speed. Mitch became a tropical storm and then a hurricane on the 23rd October 1998.
The hurricane moved westwards and hit Honduras on the 29th October 1998 causing vast destruction. Hurricane Mitch lost energy and speed over land as there is no more moist air to continue to fuel the upwards rising of air.

Landscape
In Honduras, coastal buildings were destroyed
Trees were flattened by the strong winds
Power lines were also knocked over
The vast quantities of rain that fell in a short time caused soil to be washed into rivers, blocking them
Widespread flooding as a result
Bridges and roads were also destroyed by the floodwater
In Nicaragua, rain caused a huge mudslide down the side of Casita volcano
This completely buried four villages
People
Approximately 9000 people lost their lives
Many people were made homeless as their houses were destroyed
Valuable farmland was destroyed
Polluted drinking