Hurricane Lisa Also Impacted Hattieville Residents

The ongoing assessments will probably lead into much of this month, as NEMO tries to assist everyone who suffered losses and damages due to Hurricane Lisa. Today News Five’s Marion Ali discovered that even as the storm was wreaking havoc in Belize City, it was demolishing homes sixteen miles away in Hattieville.

Marion Ali, Reporting

Sherlock Belisle is trying to salvage whatever he can from his Bainesville community house that collapsed with his family inside during Hurricane Lisa’s passage.

Sherlock Belisle

Sherlock Belisle, Lost House during Hurricane Lisa

“We were seven feet high and then what happened, I was doing a little repair on a window that blew out and then the next thing you know I start to feel it rocking but this was when we were in the centre of the storm. I felt it rock a couple of times and my wife holler at me, daddy did you feel that? But by the time she said daddy I start feeling us going on air time. For maybe like eight to ten seconds then we were on the ground.”

No one got hurt in the process, but Belisle, his wife and their four children had only been through half of their ordeal.

Sherlock Belisle

“I felt one side of the roof lifting a little bit so at that point I was like you know what, she’s not going to hold. So I grabbed everybody put on clothes on them and it made a door for us because there was no door there. And the vehicle was our safeguard for the moment. Then I was like you know what, I’m still not feeling safe in here. It was rocking but not enough to dissuade me so we backed up a little bit and my neighbour was right there seeing what’s going on and he was like come over this side.”

But the trauma that Belisle and his family endured was not confined to only them. Two miles closer to the city, in Hattieville, we met Marlon Rhaburn also sifting through the remains of his dwelling.

Voice of: Marlon Rhaburn

Voice of: Marlon Rhaburn, Lost House during Hurricane Lisa

“The house was actually shaking when the winds started to blow in. The house started to shake a lot then my father hailed me so I got out of the house in time. After that I just see the house just start collapse. Ih collapse almost like a landslide so thank God I’m still alive today. I pretty much lost everything, only my important documents I cudda mi hurry grab.”

Rhaburn is staying with his father who lives in the same yard while he rebuilds from scratch. But Lisa’s wrath was not targeted at only homes. In fact, even a house of faith lost its entire roof while people were sheltering from the storm there. For Pastor Edsel Cardinez and his congregation of sixty, it will take a while to come up with a replacement.

Edsel Cardinez

Edsel Cardinez, Pastor, Word of Faith Church, Hattieville

“When somebody come outside they see all the top is gone. And then we had to get the people from across there to our house.”

Marion Ali

“You had people in the church?”

Pastor Edsel Cardinez

“Yes there were about ten or fifteen families staying in the church. We had recently changed the roof and we thought it would have done. And because we’ve been through so many hurricanes we thought it’s not a problem. Our sound system, everything is really messed up, refrigerator in the kitchen and everything. I just have to believe that God will someway bring us through because we don’t really have the finance to rebuild.”

Another house adjacent to the Belisles was also demolished by the hurricane. Luckily, its owner had sought shelter elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Hattieville Community Centre that was used as a hurricane shelter was about to close after its remaining shelterees had gone back to their homes. Marion Ali for News Five.

There was one house that we saw at Sunset Park at Mile eight that lost a portion of its roof.