page_title: Hurricane Fifi–Orlene
section_title: Honduras
hierarchical_section_title: Hurricane Fifi–Orlene / Impact / Honduras
caption_attribution_description: English: Radar image of Hurricane Fifi off the coast of Honduras
context_page_description: Hurricane Fifi was a catastrophic tropical cyclone that killed over 8,210 people in Honduras in September 1974, ranking it as the third deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record, only behind Hurricane Mitch in 1998, and the 1780 hurricane. Fifi is also the first billion-dollar hurricane not to make landfall in the U.S., Originating from a strong tropical wave on September 14, the system steadily tracked west-northwestward through the eastern Caribbean. On September 16, the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Fifi just off the coast of Jamaica. The storm quickly intensified into a hurricane the following afternoon and attained its peak intensity on September 18 as a strong Category 2 hurricane. Maintaining hurricane intensity, Fifi brushed the northern coast of Honduras before making landfall in Belize the following day. The storm quickly weakened after landfall, becoming a depression late on September 20. Continuing westward, the former hurricane began to interact with another system in the eastern Pacific.
  Early on September 22, Fifi re-attained tropical storm status before fully regenerating into a new tropical cyclone, Tropical Storm Orlene.
context_section_description: Fifi first became a threat to Honduras on September 17 when the storm reached hurricane strength, at which point forecasters revised their forecasts to anticipate landfall in Honduras or Nicaragua on September 18 or 19. In response, officials in Honduras urged hundreds of thousands of residents to evacuate from coastal and flood-prone areas. Despite the warning, relatively few heeded these evacuation orders, likely playing a role in the large loss of life following the storm.
  During the first day of the hurricane's onslaught, the region experienced winds of up to 132 mph (212 km/h) and unrelenting rainfall. The first reports of damage from the Honduran government via radio stated that 14 people had been killed while over 100 were missing. In just 24 hours, 182 towns and villages were completely destroyed. According to the Red Cross, between 800 and 1,200 people died within 12 hours of Fifi's landfall in Honduras. Buses driving through mountain passes skidded off the sides of cliffs due to slick roads, killing numerous people. Flash floods destroyed thousands of homes and isolated numerous towns. Waves, reaching 10 ft (3.0 m) in height, destroyed moorings and grounded numerous ships.
  Continuous rain fell throughout September 19, resulting in widespread mudslides that killed over 2,000 people.  A large mudslide blocked the Choloma River, preventing water from the river and the accumulated 20 in (510 mm) of rain caused by Fifi from reaching the ocean.  The waters were released from this natural dam on September 20, when a concrete bridge broke upstream and tore through the mudslide.  The torrent of water flowed down the valley, triggering a massive flood. The city of Choloma was decimated, with an estimated 2,800–5,000 people killed out of a population of 7,000.  This accounted for roughly 20–25% of the storm's total fatalities.  The flood occurred during the nighttime, so most residents were unaware of the impending catastrophe.
  Other towns along the coast suffered similar fates as Choloma. In Armenta, roughly 400 families disappeared after a large landslide buried the town. However, the town is hardly known by people in the country and reports from the area were scarce. Another coastal town, Omoa (population of 2,500 to 3,000) was completely destroyed overnight on September 19. All of the residents were assumed to have perished; however, like Armenta, few people know of the town and estimates of the fatalities in it ranged from 30 to 3,000.
  Although by this time the storm was situated inland over Mexico, its circulation continued to produce thunderstorms over Honduras, hindering rescue efforts. Nighttime rescues were prevented by dense fog blanketing most of the mountain valleys. The city of La Ceiba, population 53,000, was completely isolated from surrounding areas. Many were feared dead as newspapers reported bodies floating down rivers.
  The death toll rose by the hundreds every day; at one point, the official death toll was estimated as high as 10,000. There is still uncertainty in the total number of fatalities due to Fifi. In general, however, most estimates range from 8,000 to 10,000. Overall this ranked Fifi as the third-deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record at the time. It was eventually lowered to fourth after Hurricane Mitch in 1998 wrought similar destruction in the same region, leaving between 11,000 and 18,000 dead.
  Throughout the country, Fifi inflicted nearly $1.8 billion (1974 USD; $9.33 billion 2020 USD) as part of what was, at the time, the worst natural disaster in Honduras' history. Due to the damage that Fifi caused, Fifi is the costliest Atlantic Hurricane to reach a maximum of Category 2. In certain coastal regions, only structures built on higher elevations were left standing. Many cities were more than 80% destroyed. Fifi demolished over 10,000 well-constructed homes throughout Honduras.  An estimated 150,000 people were left homeless due to Fifi. However, the Honduran government estimated that between 350,000 and 500,000 were left homeless. The country's banana crop was completely destroyed by t
caption: Radar image of Hurricane Fifi nearing landfall in Belize
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