Belizeans running from Rita stuck in traffic
In the deadly aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on the U.S. Gulf Coast, this time around, Americans aren’t taking any chances. When evacuation orders were issued for parts of Texas, an estimated five million people packed up and hit the road. But instead of getting out of dodge, tonight thousands are still sitting in “parking lots” on the interstate, stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic that extend some one hundred miles. Tonight, News Five takes a look at how Belizeans abroad are bracing for Hurricane Rita.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
The images on television seem surreal: millions of motorists running from the wrath of Hurricane Rita trapped on freeways in Texas as evacuation routes out of Houston are clogged with cars, boats, even cattle. Hundreds of miles offshore, Rita, a category four storm churns ominously closer towards the United States Gulf Coast.
To be sure, many Belizeans are among the evacuees stuck in traffic. At around ten this morning News Five spoke via cell phone to two stranded students: Toni Michelle Chanona and Pricilla Pollard who, at that time had been travelling for fifteen hours, trying to get to safety in Dallas, a normally four hour drive away. According to Chanona, who is behind the wheel, the trip has been exhausting and brutally hot with temperatures around a hundred degrees… but at the same time, interesting.
Toni Michelle Chanona, Via Phone from Houston
“We have the doors open and we’re driving actually because it is so hot and you noh want to put on the A.C. being that you have to conserve gas. I mean it’s fine. We are barely moving actually, so if you look over you see, a few people skateboarding and playing cards, putting on sun block, and walking their dogs. So I guess they are trying to make the best of the situation.”
The students say they only had time to pack a few essentials, leaving most of their possessions behind in their rented apartment.
Pricilla Pollard, Via Phone from Houston
“Oh yeah everything, we left everything, everything. We just packed a few clothes, brought some food and left everything. What happen, we are only twenty-five, thirty minutes away from Galveston.”
Toni Michelle Chanona
“I mean in general we’ve never experience a hurricane before, and much less away from Belize, away from family. So at this point, we don’t really know what to expect, but better be safe than sorry. So we did pack up everything and I guess we just have to be prepared to expect the worst in the sense that our apartment might not very well be there. And I guess after that I noh think we can leave after putting in two years so far, so I guess we just have to deal with it.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Do you know of any Belizeans who have decided to remain in Houston? “
Toni Michelle Chanona
“Aisha Waight along with her grandparents, they have lived here over fifteen years, so they were a little bit hesitant to leave. But they didn’t want to leave and at the last minute they had mandatory evacuation because they declared it a state of emergency, so they ended up going to a shelter. I don?t even know if they got there as yet because like everywhere is like six hours. A thirty minute drive is taking people some six hours to seven hours and cell phones are giving a lot of trouble, so I mean everything is really frustrating at this point.”
The hurricane season has been very active and is expected to remain busy. Because storms generally affect the Caribbean and Belize during September and October, Belizeans are being advised to be vigilant and make sure they have their own preparations in place in the event the country is threatened.
Michael Gentle, Forecaster
“Our history shows us that we need to be vigilant at least through the next five weeks of the hurricane season. This is because the primary areas of origin shifts to the central and southwest Caribbean and it’s likely that some of these systems when they form are could come northwest into our area. During the month of November things kinda wind down a bit as the frontal system tends to deflect the tropical systems more to the northwest and northeast over the open waters. So we still need to remain vigilant through at least the end of October.”
Both Chanona and Pollard live about a half hour away from where Hurricane Rita is expected to make landfall. The young women are hoping to reach their destination sometime late tonight or early tomorrow morning. While they have food and water in the car, at this point, the main concern is that they will have enough gasoline to get to Dallas. One fuel stop today meant waiting in line for more than an hour.
In the meantime, the young women are aware that their families and friends back home are concerned about their safety and took the opportunity to send special messages to them.
Toni Michelle Chanona
“Just that I am fine and that I miss everybody and I wish they were here to share the experience with me actually. But just that and hope fully I get to see them fine and not under bad circumstances. So I don’t want to be back to Belize because my apartment does not exist any more.”
Pricilla Pollard
“I would like to tell my parents thanks for their support because we have been calling them like ever since we had this tropical storm over here because you know we have no experience and like I am calling my mom what to get, what to do.”
Named storms this year include Irene, Nate, Ophelia and Philippe with major hurricanes Dennis, Emily, Katrina and now, Rita, the seventeenth system so far. While there are only twenty-one names in the hurricane alphabet, latest reports out of the Caribbean Emergency Disaster Response Agency is that if there are more storms than letters this year, those systems will be named using the Greek alphabet: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etcetera.
