In Honduras, Hard Hit by Drought, Authorities Hope to Make It Rain Using Contentious Tactic
The government says 20 flights could boost rainfall 20% to 60% in key areas as farmers lose most of their crops to drought.
- On Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, the Honduran government paid a Mexican company $750,000 for 20 cloud-seeding flights to combat prolonged drought ravaging the region's agricultural heartland.
- The El Niño climate pattern has devastated the Central American Dry Corridor, where farmers have lost 80% to 90% of their crops this year, prompting authorities to declare states of emergency.
- Nabil Kawas, a former dean at the National Autonomous University of Honduras, called the program an expensive "experiment," noting previous efforts increased rain by less than 10% compared to officials' 60% claims.
- Carlos Alberto Hernández, an 81-year-old farmer in Nueva Concepcion, faces hunger as crops wither; families are selling animals and tools to survive, according to Aníbal Zúñiga of the World Food Program.
- With the World Meteorological Organization projecting El Niño will persist until February 2027, Hernández argues that investments in wells and irrigation systems are more essential for long-term survival than cloud seeding.
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Authorities hope to make it rain using contentious tactic
NUEVA CONCEPCION (AP): Victor Torres is on the hunt for clouds as he flies over parched corn fields ravaged by months of drought in the rugged Honduran mountains. “We’re seeing strong cloud cover over here,” the pilot says, pointing to a map on the dashboard as he banks the small plane sharply into a patch of dark gray.
In Honduras, hard hit by drought, authorities hope to make it rain using contentious tactic – WTOP News
NUEVA CONCEPCION, Honduras (AP) — Victor Torres is on the hunt for clouds as he flies over parched corn fields ravaged by months of drought in the rugged Honduran mountains. “We’re seeing strong cloud cover over here,” the pilot says, pointing to a map on the dashboard as he banks the small plane sharply into...
In Honduras, hard hit by drought, authorities hope to make it rain usi
Pilots Victor Torres from Mexico, right, and Jose Torres from Honduras fly an aircraft during a cloud seeding mission aimed at inducing rain as part of the Honduran government's efforts to address a prolonged drought at the Aguan river, in northern Honduras, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Winnipeg Free Press
In Honduras, hard hit by drought, authorities hope to make it rain using contentious tactic
NUEVA CONCEPCION, Honduras (AP) — Victor Torres is on the hunt for clouds as he flies over parched corn fields ravaged by months of drought in the rugged Honduran mountains.
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