SAN LORENZO (Honduras) — Animals are dropping dead amid the worst drought in living memory for many Central Americans, who are grappling with the unforgiving effects of the powerful El Nino weather pattern.

“Sometimes I break down in tears. Sometimes you eat, sometimes you don’t,” said Lidia Ochoa in San Lorenzo, southern Honduras.

The same scene is playing out across the Central American Dry Corridor, which includes parts of Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

More than 10 million people live here, and 80 per cent of small-scale producers in the corridor are poor, United Nations figures show.

Extreme weather events are common in this part of the world, but this year’s El Nino — expected to be the strongest since comparable records began four decades ago — has bewildered locals.

“We had never seen anything like this,” said 76-year-old Ochoa.

At this time of year, corn should be growing abundantly on the plot belonging to fellow resident Francisco Molina.