$8 Million in Agricultural Losses Caused by October Floods

An assessment was conducted in mid-October to determine the damages caused to crops by flooding along Belize’s river system. Viewers will recall that only a few weeks ago, Hurricane Julia brought heavy rainfall to portions of Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala. All that flood water coursed through Belize’s waterways causing severe flooding in communities along river banks. An assessment of the damages to crops has concluded that the agriculture industry suffered millions of dollars in losses. Here is what Orlando Habet, the Minister of Disaster Risk Management told reporters on Thursday.

Orlando Habet

Orlando Habet, Minister of Disaster Risk Management

“Based on the agriculture assessment there was approximately two thousand five hundred acres of agriculture products that were lost valuing something around seven, eight, million dollars. But, also to mention that when that had happened harvesting had already started. So, while we saw plenty of that out there some of the things we saw through the fly over, some of the corn stubble but the harvest had already started. Most of it was, about half of it was in rice and the other half was in corn and vegetables.”