South gradually recovers from Iris

When disaster struck the south on October eighth, News 5’s crews were immediately on the scene to chronicle the devastation. And while for many Belizeans Hurricane Iris today remains only a fading memory, for thousand of people in Stann Creek and Toledo, the effects of Iris are part of everyday life. Over the last two days reporter Jacqueline Woods and cameraman Rick Romero have been retracing their earlier paths and found that while the damage was indeed extensive, for the most part hope remains alive.

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting

Hurricane Iris left a trail of mass destruction across southern Belize, but two months after the storm, much of the debris has been cleared. The work to rebuild the stricken area is being done by scores of volunteers, relief organisations and the victims themselves. But, there is still much more work to be done. In Bella Vista, a village in the Toledo district, seventy-five houses remain without electricity and many buildings have not yet been repaired. Santos Turcios, the village chairman, says there are no more materials left to rebuild the homes.

Santos Turcios, Chairman, Bella Vista Village

“These people no have money to buy zinc, nail, lumber. So people could help to build the houses again.”

In the meantime, those families are staying with relatives. Thatch structures that were blown away or collapsed have now been replaced by wooden buildings with zinc roofs. To protect the communities from water borne diseases, tanks were delivered so there can be easy access to safe drinking water. The Punta Gorda arm of the National Emergency Management Organisation is charged with the responsibility to oversee the recovery operation. Tim Rose Augustine, co-ordinator of NEMO. P.G says the job became less challenging once the villagers overcame the initial shock of the disaster and started to rebuild their community.

Tim Rose Augustine, Co-ordinator, NEMO, P.G

“The people are really helping themselves. They are building up their houses and we have the Mennonites putting up the top and the posts for them, and a lot of them are putting on the side of the building right now. So they are really helping themselves in providing homes back.”

In most Toledo villages the residents’ main source of income, farming, was wiped out as well as their daily supply of food.

Distribution centres were established, like this one in Indian Creek and donated food items were given to families. The Belize Red Cross has been heavily involved in relief efforts. It adopted fourteen villages and supplied eight hundred and twelve households with over a hundred pounds of food every two weeks.

Matron Shirley Mahung, Supervisor, Toledo Branch

“It has been very hard. Some days it’s very difficult and we do not come back in our office until about 6:30, 7:00. Because of the size of the delivery truck, we have to make two trips in order to cover the villages.”

Thirty-eight school buildings were extensively damaged and six destroyed. Four thousand students were out of school for a period of two weeks. Many damaged structures have since been repaired and prefab buildings have temporarily replaced ones that were completely destroyed.

Oscar Reyes, District Education Officer

“Yes, we are fully operational, but we’re still in need of text books. We’ve gotten some support from UNICEF, quite a lot of support I must say. We’ve gotten some support from Angelus Press in those areas of text books and so on, so there is furniture need, there is equipment need.”

In Independence village, the high school used as a hurricane shelter had one of its roofs blown away.

Walter Garbutt, Principal, Independence High school

“It was truly fortunate that nobody got hurt, because the entire roof of this building was torn off and all these rooms were filled with people. Approximately a hundred people were in there. The recovery effort began immediately.”

Walter Garbutt, the principal of Independence High, says a lot of work went into reinforcing the new roof so the building can remain as a designated shelter. A lot of clean up has taken place and were it not for the presence of some debris, you could not tell that a hurricane had hit the village.

Charles Longsworth, Principal, Independence Primary School

“If some people come now, they might think nothing much happened. But I can take you around and show you exactly where some houses where. There were quite a number of houses that just disappeared.”

The popular Michael Ashcroft Football Stadium remains damaged and until the walls and infrastructure are repaired the venue will remain a playing field for the village children. School principal, Charles Longsworth says they are also working tirelessly to rebuild the houses that simply collapsed after their posts gave way.

Charles Longsworth

“Things have changed a lot. It is not the way we want it to be, as you know, the banana industry was damaged, but we are getting by. The shrimp industry’s doing fine and some people still got a little bit of employment. So it’s not very, very bad, but it’s not what we wanted it to be.”

Similarly, the people of Seine Bight remain optimistic. The residents who lost their homes are no longer in shelters and many have been moved into temporary structures or are staying with relatives. Leonard Williams, the village chairman, believes that while the storm did its damage, the event has brought some progress to the community.

Leonard Williams, Chairman, Seine Bight Village

“It took a while for building materials to arrive, however, it did come and so far there are about nine or ten houses that have been rebuild that was totally washed away. One of the things they’re definitely having in mind, is to build stronger homes to withstand at least a category four or category three hurricane. So they are encouraged, although they are having temporary homes now, to look forward to build stronger homes.”

The storm also crippled the peninsula’s tourism. In Placencia, although almost every building received some damage, the community is beginning to emerge from its nightmare.

Glen Eiley, Chairman, Placencia Village

“Mostly a lot of the pier and the houses and a lot of the loans have come through for people. Small loans to help them get the roof back on, the ceiling in and the paint job and it’s quite a bit of work that has gone on. We have a long ways to go and I would hate to see a lot of shanty little house building because people need to get into something.”

While some resorts have been able to reopen, the small hotels in the village remain closed further aggravating the economic situation.

Glen Eiley

“I think one of the major things though, is to get the small hotels, because the restaurants are fine if they’re opened and all this and we have a few of them up and running. But we will see a drastic reduction in the amount of visitors that come in because of no place to stay.”

Glen Eiley, chairman of the village says they are also concerned about the lack of adequate phone service in the area. According to Eiley, B.T.L. has told them that the company is assessing their operation to see what changes can be made to improve the service. While businesses have been reconnected, villagers have been told that it won’t be until April when they will be able to use their phones.

Jacqueline Woods

“Hurricane Iris affected thirty-six villages. Rebuilding those communities has been a challenge. It will be some time before things are fully restored in southern Belize, but the people whose lives have been affected by the disaster remain steadfast and ready to face whatever new challenges the new year might bring. Reporting for News 5, I’m Jacqueline Woods.”