Floodwaters rising in Orange Walk
In many ways, it seems like a slow motion replay of early October in the year 2000. At that time the northern third of Belize, still reeling from the onslaught of Hurricane Keith’s wind and rain, could only stand by and watch as its two main water sources, the New River and Rio Hondo, spilled over their banks. The resulting floods caused tens of million of dollars worth of damage to crops, infrastructure and housing and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents–some for weeks. While that scenario has yet to fully materialise, the wake of Tropical Storm Chantal is beginning to feel eerily familiar. Today News 5’s Janelle Chanona and cameraman George Tillett travelled to the Orange Walk District where they found rising waters and falling spirits.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
“Many parts along the Northern Highway are flooded with water and the level continues to rise. At least one motorist taking the risk of crossing these flooded areas, has paid a heavy price.”
(car washed off the road)
Several homes along the highway have already been affected by the flooding. But most alarming was the damage done to the culverts. Orange Walk Mayor Rick Burgos says the “all clear” declared after Tropical Storm Chantal implied that the rains were over.
Rick Burgos, Mayor, Orange Walk
“We kept hearing that Chantal was bringing, I think fifteen inches of rain. The last time we had six inches of rain in about an hour, and it flooded the whole town. Now, they are talking about fifteen to sixteen inches. We’re saying that can’t be possible, all of that going to fall on us. Yesterday, it all seemed to have gone because we declared the all green. We were here until 1:00, we had our meeting at 1:00 and at that moment, it didn’t seem to have any threat. The real hard rain was last night about 9:00, 10:00 and it was really raining hard.
At this stage, we are handling it pretty good. We have the B.D.F. over there manning their station. A couple of B.D.F. just came in with short wave radios in case they need to get in touch with B.D.F. in Belize. We have asked for a couple of speedboats, which we have several people here that to the Lamanai tours, and we have already contacted them to have the speedboats on alert in case we need to use them.”
Janelle Chanona
“Flooding began in some communities, like in Trial Farm very early this morning. But as bad as this looks, things are expected to get a lot worse. So far, it has only been localised flooding; that is accumulated water in depressed areas. But when this water gets into the river, the level could rise even more.”
Natalia Waight, Flooding Victim
“Not even when Hurricane Keith it went so high like this. We managed to raise some of the things, but I think water already reached them. It was higher than yesterday this morning.”
Janelle Chanona
“So you didn’t manage to save anything?”
Natalia Waight
“Nothing. Everything is in the house. Only the children’s clothes…only that we tek out.”
The National Emergency Management Organisation here has been working with the town council and B.D.F. to evacuate the waterlogged residents. But as one volunteer says, even when the situation seems desperate, people are reluctant to leave.
Froylan Carballo, Evacuation Volunteer
“In the first instance they are hesitant to come out, and I don’t give them wrong, they live there and want to take care of their stuff. But eventually they do realise, and we have to coax some of them too that it is best for them to leave and find somewhere safe. This is not safe for anybody.”
Janelle Chanona
“Are you evacuating certain items based on priority, or are you taking everything out the house?”
Froyland Carballo
“Yes. At this point, we are only taking the basic things, clothes, food, probably stove and things like that. If we do have time later, maybe we assist them, but at this point we don’t want to congest the shelters with lot of unnecessary items.”
A number of evacuees have found safety with family members, but many have had to go to the shelters. The situation is not ideal but as one temporary resident put it, it’s better than what she left behind.
Janelle Chanona
“You were keeping an eye on the water?”
Andrea Sutherland
“I mi di sleep. I get down off my bed and I just gone in water and I couldn’t go to sleep anymore. I mi feel wah way, but I say it’s God’s work, so we have to live with it.”
Janelle Chanona
“That’s when you decided to move, last night?”
Andrea Sutherland
“We just move this morning. All in the night we mi de in the water. We sit down on the bed and stayed right there til morning when they come help we come right ya so.”
Tonight the attention will be focussed on the Rio Hondo and New Rivers as they are expected to rise significantly. Reporting for News 5, I am Janelle Chanona.
