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Cedeño's homes disappear as Honduras faces rising seas and floods

An Irish report follows coastal losses, rooftop evacuations and land-rights campaigners as COP31 puts support for vulnerable countries on the agenda.

Channel: RTÉ News ·

IrelandStory of November 11, 2026Trari Newsroom

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Honduras: Communities on the frontline of climate change | RTÉ News

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0:24Cedeño is losing roughly six metres of shoreline annually, according to the report.
0:54Francis Azucena Cruz describes losing her home and businesses to the encroaching sea.
3:04Marta Maldonado recounts repeated flood evacuations, including taking refuge on her roof.
3:42A Trócaire-funded monitoring system gives Ulúa basin communities more than 72 hours of flood warning, an official says.
5:20Johnny Rivas describes threats and assassination attempts linked to his work defending smallholder farmers.
7:11José Cedillo recounts imprisonment after opposing a mining project that he says endangered local water sources.

Francis Azucena Cruz has lost her home, a hotel and a beach shack to the sea in Cedeño, Honduras. "My heart cries, because think about it: starting from zero at my age, it's so difficult," she says.

Her account opens a journey through communities facing coastal erosion, river flooding and conflicts over the land and water they depend on. Ireland's Radio Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) News sent reporter Kate Varley and cameraman Bram Verbeke to the Central American country as leaders gather in Turkey for COP31, the United Nations climate conference.

The report describes a country responsible for only a tiny share of global greenhouse gas emissions but facing severe climate impacts. In Cedeño, it says, the sea is eating away roughly six metres of shoreline annually. Community leader Dagoberto Majano displays a map recording more than 200 structures lost in just over a decade. He says the destruction has forced residents to migrate, including to the United States and Spain.

Further inland, in Cortés, Marta Maldonado describes repeatedly fleeing river floods and taking refuge on her roof. Rebuilding has become a recurring ordeal. "It is so hard to lose everything and try to rebuild a home from scratch," she says.

There is a practical response: an upstream river-monitoring system funded by the Irish aid organisation Trócaire. An emergency official says it gives communities in the Ulúa River basin more than 72 hours of warning, allowing earlier evacuations.

Varley also examines how climate pressures intersect with land disputes around African palm cultivation in the Aguán Valley. Farmers' rights campaigner Johnny Rivas describes surviving threats and assassination attempts. Environmental activist José Cedillo recounts spending more than two years in prison after opposing an iron ore mining project that he says threatened local water sources.

The report closes by urging international leaders to turn climate commitments into protection for these communities. Cedillo expresses the stakes in simpler terms: "To continue fighting is to be aware that we cannot live without water. We will always keep fighting."

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