Carlos’s story – Artwork by Nani Puspasari

“I decided to come [to the US] because I felt that there weren’t any other good options. After Hurricane Mitch destroyed most of the town where I am and work was really hard to get, it was really difficult times for my family and myself. So I decided to come here.” – Carlos

Carlos grew up in a poor family in a poor village in Honduras. In 1998, when he was barely a teenager, Hurricane Mitch struck the country. It was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane in more than two centuries and caused widespread devastation. Thousands of people were killed and the damage was extremely costly. Wind, rain, flooding and landslides, made worse by the country’s slash and burn forestry practices, left Honduras’s infrastructure almost entirely destroyed, according to the US Department of Commerce’s National Climate Data Centre. Up to 20 per cent of the population lost their homes. Agriculture collapsed. Communities faced hunger, and there were outbreaks of malaria, dengue fever and cholera. The long-term impact was severe; the Honduran President stated that the hurricane wiped out fifty years of progress.

In the years after the hurricane, life in Carlos’ town had become untenable. Most local livelihoods had collapsed, his family was under severe strain and he couldn’t see a realistic way forward if he stayed. When he was 16, Carlos decided that leaving for the United States offered his best chance for the future.