Shelters Opened Across Belize District
The unusual amount of rains has caused shelters to open in affected areas. Some folks from the city, as well as rural communities in the Belize District, headed early to the shelters to stay dry and safe. A resident from the Jerusalem area says she made her way across the London bridges as soon as she could. Here is News Five’s Duane Moody with a report.
Duane Moody, Reporting
Across urban and rural Belize District, and as early as two p.m. today, a number of shelters were officially opened for residents whose properties have been inundated by flood waters which continue to rise. The flooding in the Belize River Valley and the Old Capital is attributed to the rains brought on by Eta and is expected to worsen with flood waters from the west making its way to the Caribbean Sea. So NEMO has made the decision to open several shelters in rural Belize.
Alpheus Gillett
Alpheus Gillett, Belize Rural Coordinator, NEMO
“As we speak, we are opening some shelters. We’re opening the shelter in Burrell Boom; we are opening the shelter in Ladyville, in Crooked Tree and in Hattieville.”
Duane Moody
“Anybody there as yet sir?”
Alpheus Gillett
“Not at the moment, but I say in the next hour or two, we should have persons in those shelters. We normally ask of persons to at least bring along the basics, water supplies or food supplies for three days. But in the event, it is the norm that NEMO will assist in the event that persons do not have access to that.”
Burrell Boom Chairlady Karen Frimpong and the President of the Community Disaster Response Team this morning met with the principal of the Roman Catholic Primary School in the village to ensure that everything is in place to receive residents who may want to access shelters.
Karen Frimpong
Karen Frimpong, Chairlady, Burrell Boom Village
“We, the village council and the CRDT, we are going to get together and see where we can move people as quick as possible to the shelters. If there is someone to be moved, we will get that person and take them to the shelter. We have two shelters in Burrell Boom; we have the RC Roman Catholic School and the Burrell Boom Methodist School.”
As early as eleven o’clock today, however, the Ladyville Community Centre was open for shelterees. According to Chairman Bernard Bennett, several families from the Los Lagos community had to voluntarily evacuate from their homes, which were under water.
Bernard Bennett
Bernard Bennett, Chairman, Ladyville
“We have been getting calls for people telling me that they need the centre to open because their houses have been flooded out. So I am here. I also got a call from Mister Kevin Pollard, the NEMO coordinator for this area, to open the centres so I’d like to appeal to everybody that if you are flooded out and need assistance, you can always call me at 614-8432 and we try our best to go and get you or if you can reach out to the community centre, it is open. I’ll appeal and ask everybody to be honest. If you have tested for COVID-19 or been exposed, we are planning to ask you to go to the Evangelical School to go and shelter at that area.”
In Belize City, a list of shelters was made available to those residents. But even before then, CEMO Coordinator and Deputy Mayor, Michael Noralez says that the calls have been coming in and so it was under consideration. We caught up with a woman who lives in the Jerusalem area of Antelope Street extension. Miss Baizar says the area is already flooded and she decided to come out even before the shelter opened because she needed to keep her children safe.
Voice of: Miss Baizar, Shelteree
“I live through the London bridges and back there is very flooded; I had to walk through water to get out here. Even through our walkways, we have to walk through mud to get out here because when it rains, back deh soh look like a pig pen. But the entrance to my house is under water and it is rising rapidly. I decided to move out before it is too late and then I can’t come out none at all. I be the first fi come out and I tell them to come if unu want – I gwen dah di school – cause I noh wah risk my life fi shame or something; no.”
Duane Moody
“So even before the shelter open…”
Voice of: Miss Baizar
“…I am here.”
Duane Moody
“Were you able to bring anything with you or you left everything behind?”
Voice of: Miss Baizar
“I had to lef everything behind. I can’t walk in water with nothing beside what I have on and what I have in my knapsack for me and mi baby.”
Michael ‘Chips’ Noralez
Michael ‘Chips’ Noralez, Deputy Mayor, Belize City
“We are doing an assessment of some of the areas because not all shelters will be open; only those that are necessary for the people living in the immediate vicinity, as we want to do right now with the Unity Presbyterian [Primary School]. But we are doing our assessment; we are finding out how many people need to be evacuated and then we will declare them open.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
