San Pedranos clean up, but damage less than feared

San Pedro, Ambergis Caye: it’s the powerhouse of Belize’s vital tourism industry. And when it looked like the island would take a licking there were fears that the entire Belizean economy would feel the blow. Fortunately, Dean’s punch landed hardest in Mexico, but as News Five’s Marion Ali reports, San Pedranos were not completely spared.

Marion Ali
“This area, San Mateo, home to eight-five residents, was one of the areas worst hit aside from San Pedrito. The clean-up campaign, according to town Mayor, Elsa Paz, will take a while before residents will see life back to normal.”

Elsa Paz, San Pedro Mayor
“This is a low area and actually at the moment we don’t have streets, big streets, we only have like trails that take these people to their houses and since it’s a low area you can see, at the moment, it’s flooded with water. But we can help by bringing hard core and sand to the areas where especially the people have to walk noh, like as you can see the streets. But that’s the most we can do for them at the moment and I think it will take us like all of this week til’ the end of this weekend here to clean the whole town.”

San Mateo area resident, Edilberto Ku, said he decided to weather the storm in his house next to the lagoon because he thought it was safe. While he didn’t suffer the loss of any personal property, he came close to losing a friend.

Edilberto Ku, San Mateo area resident
“Maybe one to two o’ clock in the morning the breeze come so hard and rain, I come out and check around because I got mi dog right yah and di water give me up to bout right yah.”

Marion Ali
“By your waist?”

Edilberto Ku
“Aha. Then well, I come this side and to the next point and the fence, I find my dog to the top and I take it and bring it and kerr it up there.”

Marion Ali
“Why you decided to weather the storm here when you knew this was an area that floods a lot?

Edilberto Ku
“Somebody come and tek us right yah but we don’t want to come out because we got our new houses and we think that nothing will happen.”

Another man who thought nothing would happen was Amilcar Hernandez, who also weathered the storm close to the lagoon, but in the San Pedrito area.

Amilcar Hernandez
“The storm come strong and lotta breeze and all ah dat just broke in over there and I just spend it in the high house over there. You live right by the lagoon. Yes ma’am. How is it normally when it rains here. It rain hard and all ah the lagoon place full up bout like one feet and water is all about and strong breeze, lot of things and zinc over there just fly out.”

Today the National Emergency Management Organization dispatched assessment teams to the island who teamed up with local officials. Belize Rural South Area Representative, Manuel Heredia, says while the damages to the island were not as severe as those caused by Hurricane Keith in 2000, the clean-up will still take some work.

Manuel Heredia, Belize Rural South Area Representative
“Most of the damages were done to more or less the trees and the streets and the beach erosion I would say would be the greatest part. A number of the piers were damaged, I think, or most of them were slightly damaged but beach erosion and the streets were the biggest part of the damage.”

Marion Ali
“When you say street you mean what, flooding?”

Manuel Heredia
“Not only, pot holes and also some areas that will need a lot of materials to get them back to what they were noh.”

Heredia estimates that the facelift to restore the island will take around a month. Marion Ali for News Five.