Iris remembered one year after
Until she made up her mind as to where she was going, Hurricane Iris had Belizeans from San Pedro to Barranco saying their prayers and packing their bags. And when her one hundred and fifty mile per hour winds finally tore a swath of destruction across southern Belize, thousands of people discovered that our conventional wisdom about hurricanes may have been wrong. Yesterday, on the eve of Iris’s first anniversary, News 5’s Jacqueline Woods and Marion Ali returned to the area to see what lessons have been learned.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
On the day we travelled to southern Belize, the skies were eerily reminiscent of a year ago, but even in the worst of it, the weather conditions could not be compared to what passed over the area on October eighth, 2001.
Lucilla Lopez, Villager, Seine Bight
“I hate to think back, it was so devastating.”
Jacqueline Woods
“It is still too painful?”
Lucilla Lopez
“Too painful looking back one year later.”
Hurricane Iris delivered a devastating blow to the southern villages, passing over Monkey River, Placencia, Seine Bight, Independence, and many others in the Toledo District. News 5’s Marion Ali, at the time working for Love FM, was part of a team covering the hurricane as it bore down on Big Creek.
Marion Ali
“The storm picked up in intensity at around 7:30 on the night of Monday, October eighth. My team and I were travelling in a vehicle similar to this one from this hurricane shelter to another not far away called The Centre. However, as we tried to proceed, Hurricane Iris was upon us. Winds in excess of a hundred miles per hour rocked the vehicle.”
Amidst flying zinc and falling lamp posts, we managed to find our way through the powerful storm where we sought refuge at the home of Village Chairman, Tony Zabaneh.
Marion Ali
“How better prepared do you think people are now?”
Tony Zabaneh, Chairman, Independence Village
“Self-awareness of hurricanes around here right now…it doesn’t even have to be a hurricane, just this type of weather we’re having, the children are very, very aware of what it’s all about and they’re prepared to assist in any way they can, come out and help if there is any help that is needed in the village. And I think they will stay out of problems knowing that zinc will be flying and things like this.”
Charles Longsworth, Coordinator, Clean-up Campaign
“I think now some people may be still cleaning up because there were trees in their yards that they couldn’t get to and I think everybody had to be involved in this kind of cleaning because it was really terrible. I think you were here when the hurricane struck, and the day afterwards you couldn’t believe Independence could look like that. But it’s been a year now and you don’t see very many traces of it.”
Most of the houses that were destroyed have been replaced by cement structures.
Walter Garbutt, coordinator, Supplies Distribution
“People are nailing down their zinc more carefully, they are using bigger lumber; instead of one by four they’re using two by four et cetera. And those people who can afford, are building cement.”
Further south on the Placencia Peninsula the rebuilding also continues.
Percival Neal, Vice Chairman, Placencia
“It’s really devastating that damage that occurred and we are proud to see how quick it’s getting back in operation. A lot of construction still going on now, but other than the destruction from the storm, we had a lot of construction going on in development anyway.”
“It’s fascinating for me to know how quick the effort that was made by the people that were involved in clearing up. And NEMO particularly has done a wonderful job in getting the village back to normal.”
While some villagers have been able to rebuild, others like Wayne Leslie, are still looking for financial assistance.
Wayne Leslie, Resident
“My house is still on the ground right now, flat on the ground. We got no kind of aid, nothing, no help from nobody.”
Jacqueline Woods
“So where have you been staying?”
Wayne Leslie
“I’ve been renting a room, me and my kids.”
Placencia, one of the country’s major tourist destinations, lost most of its resorts and businesses. Maurice and Lucille Villanueva, owners of Travellers Inn, said they worked quickly to repair the damages and were opened for business by January.
Jacqueline Woods
“How long did it take you guys to rebuild?”
Maurice Villanueva, Co-owner, Travellers Inn
“About three months. But we did not move into it till when?”
Lucille Villanueva, Co-owner, Travellers Inn
“January.”
Maurice Villanueva
“Because water was our problem. My two sons came in from New York and they gave us a hand.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Do you think the people of Placencia are better prepared in case another storm comes their way?”
Maurice Villanueva
“Yes, I think so.”
Four miles north, in Seine Bight, the villagers are not only better prepared, but many who lost homes now have roofs over their heads.
Leonard Williams, Chairman, Seine Bight
“There were housing projects that came in from CEDERA, and the indigenous group from the Mayan council in Punta Gorda also assisted in getting some houses into the community that are completed already. The CEDERA homes also are completed. There was a little lull in the battle with the B.T.L. homes, but right now the fire is going with it as the project is about to start.”
The National Emergency Management Organization, NEMO, has been meeting with the communities for the past year to educate them about natural disasters and what they can do to protect lives and property. Carlos Fuller, Chief Meteorologist, and a member of NEMO’s Warning Committee, says the focus is now on protecting lives and property at sea.
Carlos Fuller, Chief Meteorologist
“Our biggest concern is now with our marine population and our tourist populations. That is where, over the past four years we have seen lost of life, whether it was from the Phantome running away from Mitch and made a wrong decision and we lost that, whether it was the two catamarans offshore San Pedro with Hurricane Keith and we lost life there, and then last year with Iris, unfortunately we lost life from the diveboat. So that is where our problems now lie, in the marine tourist population. Those are the people we now have to address.”
With Iris now a year behind us, all eyes are focussed out to sea where the next big storm may be waiting. But one thing’s for sure…and that’s when it comes, we’ll be better prepared. Reporting for News 5, I am Jacqueline Woods.
The only fatalities directly attributed to Iris were the death of twenty people–eighteen U.S. passengers and two Belizean crew–aboard the diveboat Wavedancer. The vessel capsized while riding out the storm in the harbour at Big Creek.
