The Aftermath of Hurricane Mitch Americans eager to help. Just days after Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras and its Central American neighbors, U.S. citizens began calling the Honduran Consulate in Washington, D.C., asking how to adopt children orphaned by the storm. Beyond the confines of the airport, life becomes even more chaotic. Roads are choked with automobiles and trucks struggling to navigate through a city which lost 10 of its 12 bridges to the storm. The air is rank with exhaust and from the clouds of dried mud kicked up by the traffic. Many pedestrians wear masks across their faces.