Sibun rancher hit hard by Keith
Students of Belizean geography are aware that as you go from Hondo to Sarstoon the behaviour of Belize’s many inland waterways changes. In the north, for example, the rivers tend to rise more slowly, but once they flood, tend to stay that way for a long time. As you go south, however, the rivers are more prone to flash flooding and can rise and fall 20 or 30 feet in the space of a day. Today News Five’s Jose Sanchez took a ride on the unpredictable Sibun and found that while it’s waters have largely receded, the damage is only just now coming to light.
Not much has been heard on the news about hurricane damage in the Sibun River Valley, but rancher Marcel Samuels will not soon forget the hurricane named Keith.
Marcel Samuels, Farmer
“It came over the bank here, which because of the large amount of rain it got from hurricane Keith, came up real fast, jumped the banks here, went down this way where the cattle where in this section, and it took the cattle down with them.”
Not only is the river area congested with fallen trees, but it is congested with carcasses of rotting cattle. The large amount of damage in so short a time surprised many farmers.
Fred Hunter, Executive Director, Belize Livestock Producers
“These floods came a little bit quicker than we are used to. I farmed here in the Sibun valley and have experienced floods, but this situation is a very unique one. I think you can see from where we were standing on the hill by the riverbank, the water came down this way. You can see from the way how the grass is pointing in the direction of the currents and the animals got swept up in these bushes back here.”
Jose Sanchez
“The water from the Sibun River had risen 18 to 20 above the banks. If you have any doubt, then how would you explain the cow that got up the tree?”
Marcel Samuels
“Directly from cattle, a herd of 98, my last count was 75 heads were gone.”
Jose Sanchez
“How much would you say it was worth?”
Marcel Samuels
“I’d say about $70,000. This is not particularly my loss alone. This is a loss for the country as well.”
Jose Sanchez
“How long has it taken you to get all your livestock together?”
Marcel Samuels
“As for a herd of 98, I would say about 6 and a half years.”
Fred Hunter
“There’s a lot of other livestock farmers down the stream, we haven’t gotten reports of how hard they were hit. The Belize River Valley, particularly in the northern Belize District. Right now… Many people are trying to do salvage operations. Get cattle that survived from the high ground, where they are holding, get them some place that they can be fed. The Orange Walk District, particularly all the way back in Blue Creek, which is a large cattle producing area, they are in deep trouble right now with the floodwaters. We still haven’t completed our assessment. We don’t think we’ll have a clear picture of all that happened probably until probably the end of this week.”
Samuels built his farm largely with hard work and banks loans, He has braved hard times before, but this flood has hit below the belt.
Marcel Samuels
“In the cattle industry I would say very far, say 10 years, 10 to 12 years. If I don’t get any assistance, perhaps I wouldn’t be able to return again.”
Jose Sanchez
“You seem like a fighter. You wouldn’t give up, would you?”
Marcel Samuels
“All fighting man need some good assistance you know. With that I think I stand a fighting chance.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Jose Sanchez.
The Ministry of Agriculture is hoping to make available a line of credit to the farmers who have sustained hurricane losses.
