Almost Two Thousand Islanders Evacuate to the Mainland in Preparation for Hurricane Lisa

It’s aiming for Belize at fifteen miles per hour and is expected to approach the coast by sundown on Wednesday. As of today, however, there were people leaving the islands of San Pedro and Caye Caulker in an organized exit to avoid the brunt of hurricane force winds associated with Hurricane Lisa. The 2022 Atlantic Hurricane season’s twelfth storm forced people to put a pause on their lives and seek refuge more inland. By the time the last means of transportation had ceased, closer to two thousand persons had left San Pedro and Caye Caulker. The last flights today arrived at two this afternoon and the last boats arrived around four. San Pedro Mayor Gualberto Nunez and Caye Caulker Village Chairlady, Seleny Villanueva-Pott filled us in on how the evacuations went.

Gualberto Nunez

Gualberto Nunez, Mayor, San Pedro

“I would assume that we have already evacuated about a thousand people or they have evacuated, I would say. We have a rough estimate of about twenty thousand people living on the island and I know it’s just a small percentage of people that go out, especially whenever there is any storm. People are afraid to leave their belongings and their homes.”

Seleny Villanueva-Pott

Seleny Villanueva-Pott, Chairlady, Caye Caulker

“The last boat left at two o’clock, so there are no more boats off the island. IF you did not make that two o’clock boat, then we have to be on the island. The last count that we got was six hundred and eighty-one residents left the island, so the rest of us will have to weather out the storm here.”