Belize safe as hurricane season ends

If you were watching this newscast at the end of November in 1997, instead of today, the rest of what I am going to say would have seemed odd, if not totally unnecessary. But beginning in 1998, life changed radically for Belizeans as the result of successive visits by unwelcome guests named Mitch, Keith, Chantal and Iris. And that’s why the first of December, 2002, on the advice of the National Emergency Management Organization, has been declared a National Day of Thanksgiving by Prime Minister Said Musa. It is to thank the Lord for sparing Belize during a year that we really couldn’t bear another hurricane.

For the record, 2002 was a quiet year for tropical weather. There were twelve tropical storms, four of which grew into hurricanes, only two of them reaching category three or higher. While Cuba and Mexico were hit hard, the overall impact on the Caribbean and United States was far less than in recent years. The P.M. expressed his appreciation to NEMO workers nationwide who remained on call for the last six months. And we would like to add our thanks as well.