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Nov 1, 2022

Dangriga Preparing for Landfall of Hurricane

A News Five team headed south to Dangriga to see just what preparation is like in that southern municipality which the latest forecast indicates is in proximity to where Tropical Storm Lisa is expected to make landfall as a high category one hurricane. While in some areas, it appeared to be normal, we did see some residents readying their properties and purchasing last minute supplies to weather the storm. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.

 

Duane Moody, Reporting

Just before one p.m. today, there was an obvious change in the weather conditions in Dangriga, which at this time is where Tropical Storm Lisa is expected to make landfall, as a category one hurricane. Residents were out making last-minute purchases, while others were putting up shutters and gathering sandbags in anticipation of the winds and potential flood associated with the storm. The Dangriga Emergency Operation Center was activated on Monday.

 

Robert Mariano

Robert Mariano, Mayor, Dangriga

“We started to put things in place, preparing for the hurricane. Well at this time it is a tropical storm, but we know that when it makes landfall, it will be a hurricane by then. And so we are now in a proactive mood and the proactive-ness is first to save lives and second to see how we can help people for protecting their property. According to the weather forecast, the weather is to start change as early as late this evening and so if it starts to rain, the rain will continue into Wednesday and Wednesday it goes straight into the hurricane. And so people wouldn’t have time to come into the shelter. So for us, it is better we start opening the shelters as quick as possible today.”

 

…and by news time tonight, following a two o’clock meeting, shelters across Dangriga and in nearby communities have been opened.

 

Tanya Nunez

Dr. Tanya Nunez, Chair, Communications Committee, Dangriga E.O.C.

“Primarily in Dangriga Town, we are going to start with Ecumenical High School. If you feel that your home cannot withstand the storm/hurricane, then we want to encourage you to move out early. Please do not wait until the height of the storm to try to evacuate your homes because then you will be putting the lives of other public officers at risk.”

 

Assistance with transportation to shelters is available by the Benguche Park, the gas station on Main Street and the Lakeland area of Dangriga. But there are other concerns for the southern municipality, including vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, and then there are flood prone areas within the town and the district.

 

Robert Mariano

“We have Rivas Estate area; a portion is low lying area. That’s one of the areas we are watching. We also have a part of New Site and the Waigerile area; those are the three main areas that we are keeping our eyes on. And so what I am doing as mayor is continue the collaboration with NEMO and the E.O.C. I have equipments on standby from the Dangriga Town Council which will be used as a resource if need to. We are also looking at boats and so on. We are looking at buses to see how we can relocate people if needs be.”

 

Louis Zabaneh

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Area Representative, Dangriga

“We have many families who are in houses structurally that we are concerned about so we go to them. After our two o’clock meeting, I am also meeting with my executive and the mayor and the councilors to make sure that we have on our list all the elderly, all those people who we know need to go to the shelters and we will be going out house to house to encourage them to go.”

 

Dangriga area representative Doctor Louis Zabaneh has been out in villages such as Hope Creek and Sarawee that are known to be vulnerable to flooding.

 

Dr. Louis Zabaneh

“We are doing some works on some of the drains. We know that some of these areas where the water clogs up and so we are trying to at least be a little preemptive and try to mitigate the potential flooding in some of these areas. the Ecumenical High School that will be used, the principal is already there, Mister Lawrence and he is just waiting for the office here to give the green light. But he has his school ready to go. The Methodist Primary School in Hope Creek will also be a site as a shelter.”

 

Residents needing to evacuate are encouraged to do so early so that the lives of public officers who are manning the EOC are not placed at risk when responding to distress calls dangerously close to the zero hour. Duane Moody for News Five.


Viewers please note: This Internet newscast is a verbatim transcript of our evening television newscast. Where speakers use Kriol, we attempt to faithfully reproduce the quotes using a standard spelling system.

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