…And hydrologist says blame it on the rain

So what was behind Wednesday’s downpour? Well, it’s the hurricane season and according to the National Meteorological Service, there are a number of tropical waves heading our way… and that means more rain. But it’s not all bad news. Supervisor of Hydrology, Rudolph Williams says that while there will be a lot of rain; they are not expecting the flooding that was experienced last year. Meanwhile, the conditions at the Kendal causeway and the Middlesex Bridge were a result of an average of five inches of rain that hit mostly the central part of the country.

Rudolph Williams, Supervisor of Hydrology, Natl Met Service
“The rains were centred around the Balde Beacon, the north Stann Creek and the Sittee River areas and Belmopan; if you look at that little circle there, that’s where the rains were centred. It is reported that we got about five inches of rainfall near Belmopan and Bally Beacon, about four point eight inches of rainfall. So the peak rainfall was around five to six inches in the centre of the country.”

Delahnie Bain
“What’s the situation now at the Kendal causeway?”

Rudolph Williams
“Okay, the Kendal causeway, the water level has started to go down. It’s still a couple feet above the causeway.”

Delahnie Bain
“How high did that rise?”

Rudolph Williams
“It is estimated that it went at least ten feet above the causeway—the low level bridge. However, that is expected to go down tonight and possibly come back again tomorrow if the rains predicted will come as it is predicted. We don’t expect to see an amount of rains to occur but because of the saturated and the current level of water in the river, it is easy for it to go up again.”

“The river at the Middlesex Bridge; that has started to go down a little. It is expected to remain impassable until the Ministry of Works has decided it will be safe. However, the rains are expected to come back again, like I said, and so it is expected for that to be threatened again either tomorrow in the morning or in the afternoon. We have no direct reports for that area. However, we know that lower down at the Hope Creek Bridge, the water was about ten to twelve feet below the bridge deck and it was rising at the last report that we had.”

Williams says that because Guatemala also had a lot of rain on Wednesday, water levels in Belmopan, are not expected to recede just yet.