After punishing Honduras with too much rain, Hurricane Mitch perversely deprived the country of drinking water. The storm destroyed critical segments of Tegucigalpa's potable water system, leaving practically all of the city's 1.9 million residents without safe water for domestic use.
The national water and sewage company, SANAA, scrambled to make repairs, but it was hampered by the fact that many of its spare pipes, pumps and other supplies had been stored in a warehouse that the storm had buried under several feet of mud. University students were conscripted to help dig out and rinse the estimated $5 million worth of parts.
While repairs were underway, SANAA sent a steady stream of water trucks to delivery points throughout the city. Elsewhere, it improvised service for neighborhoods with plastic pipes fitted with taps. Meanwhile, crews worked to repair the damage to the water mains. Financing that the IDB had provided through an earlier loan to help extend the city's water service will now help pay for its restoration.