Honduras: Power outages reported nationwide as of May 8

Event

Residents in multiple cities across Honduras took the streets on Wednesday, May 8, to protest ongoing power outages. Blackouts have been reported in the departments of Atlántida, Colón, Cortés, Olancho since Sunday, May 5, causing significant business and commercial disruptions throughout the area. Demonstrations have broken out in several cities, including San Pedro Sula (Cortés department), where residents erected barricades and lit tires on fire. Some of the protests have turned violent, such as on the night of Tuesday, May 7, when police officers fired tear gas to disperse the crowds in San Pedro Sula; unconfirmed reports indicate that live ammunition may also have been used. Emergency maintenance is scheduled to take place in El Paraíso department on Thursday, May 9, between 08:00 and 16:00 (local time). Associated power disruptions are expected during the repair period.

Further power disruptions and associated protests are possible in the coming days. Heightened security measures and localized traffic disruptions are expected around all demonstrations; clashes between protesters and security forces cannot be ruled out.

Context

According to the state-run energy company Empresa Energia Honduras (EEH), the disruptions are due to overloaded circuits caused by high temperatures and individuals illegally accessing the network.

Advice

Individuals in Honduras, particularly in the abovementioned areas, are advised to monitor the situation, avoid all protests as a precaution, keep battery-operated devices fully charged whenever possible, and to be cautious when driving or crossing streets if traffic signals are not functioning.