Case Study: Hurricane Mitch

Occured in 1998

Nicaragua

Impacts:

• 3,000 people were killed
• Crops failed and 50,000 animals died
• Almost 24,000 houses were destroyed
• 340 schools were either damaged or destroyed

How it set back development:

• In 1998, the GDP only grew by 4%
• Exports of rice and corn decreased as crops were damaged
• This resulted in people earning less money, so they became poorer 
• The government therefore had less money to spend on development
• The total damage was estimated to be $1.2 billion
• Cost of repairs took money away from development 
• …