Tropical Depression Ida inches closer to Belize

The hurricane season is winding down but this weekend, in southern Belize residents are bracing for heavy rains and flooding from Tropical Storm Ida that hit Nicaragua and Honduras and then downgraded to a depression. The speed of the depression has moved faster than those projected by models, but is Ida a threat? You need not look any further than who delivers tonight’s weather to form your own conclusion. You would have noted that the delivery of the weather report has been contracted to private individuals. But with a weather system of national concern on our radars, tonight’s forecast will be presented by veteran forecaster Frank Tench. News Five visited Tench this evening while he was preparing to deliver the three p.m. report. Tench indicated that parts of the country are at risk for flood.

Frank Tench, Forecaster, Belize Met Service
“At three o’clock this afternoon Tropical Depression IDA emerged over the North West Caribbean over the coast of Honduras. It is still a tropical depression with maximum sustained winds of thirty-five miles per hour and moving over the northwest at about seven miles per hour.”

Jose Sanchez
“Is there any threat of flood for Belize?”

Frank Tench
“The threat for flood remains over the southern parts of the country, the Toledo and Stann Creek Districts. The rest of the country the risk of flooding isn’t that high. While the storm is a depression as it stands, during the course of its movement over the northwest Caribbean during tomorrow, further intensification of the storm is quite possible. You could very well have feeder band clouds moving across the coastline during its passage over the northwest Caribbean. These feeder band clouds generate tremendous amount of rains, therefore the risk for flooding with the country already saturated from rains over last weekend, that risk remains fairly high.”

Jose Sanchez
“When is the danger period expected to pass?”

Frank Tench
“I would say for the greater part of the country by Sunday. Most areas of the country should be out of the risk for any catastrophic effect from this system. It looks like the northern parts of the country would be still at risk for intense floods, intense rains and thunderstorms. If you watch the projected track for Sunday, northern Belize remains on the projected path for the next few days.”

Jose Sanchez
“What’s your advice for citizens at home?”

Frank Tench
“I would say continue to monitor the reports issued by the weather service. Be very careful in whatever activities you conduct this weekend, because it is going to be a very wet weekend for most of the country especially Saturday. That would be my advice to the general public at this time. I think for the most part the storm has been living up to the models. It has moved a little faster and it moved a little further west than the projected part in accordance with what he model forecast suggested. A fact of these storms is that the most intense showers occurs on the eastern quadrant of the storm. And if the storm continues on the current path it is then most of the intense showers and thunderstorms would remain well to the east of Belize and therefore we will be spared from the worst effects of this storm during this weekend.”

News Five will be monitoring the weather system over the weekend and will broadcast tropical updates at regular intervals.