Chief Met Officer traces the path of Alex
The first storm for this hurricane season, Alex, swept across Belize in a matter of six hours this past Saturday. Many headed to the supermarkets for last minute supplies, the winds were in the range of forty miles per hour, the rains poured down the heaviest after six o’clock, and while some areas are impassable, most people were prepared. NEMO and CEMO kicked in and in the end, the two had a good dry run for the rest of the hurricane season. Alex is now in the Gulf of Mexico and Chief Meteorologist Dennis Gonguez says the damages are minimal.
Dennis Gonguez, Chief Meteorologist
“Alex made land fall around five-thirty on Saturday and continued making landfall until after six that evening. At three p.m. hurricane hunters aircraft relocated a center nearer to Belize and from there on Alex moved inland and has continued its way, weakened across the Yucatan Peninsula and has re-developed into a Tropical Storm again over the south central Gulf of Mexico.”
Jose Sanchez
“What was the maximum wind speed when it was crossing over Belize?”
Dennis Gonguez
dennis gonguez
“Well there was an observation from San Pedro that said forty miles per hour winds but we haven’t confirmed those as yet.”
Jose Sanchez
“Okay, I know the Coast Guard says on the seas they saw very high waves, but in terms of the water damage, was it only in the areas that are normally prone to floods?”
Dennis Gonguez
“A flyover was made yesterday and it only showed minimal damages around the country to the agriculture sector, to the infrastructure of the country and to the environment; just minimal damage. So the impact was not heavy.”
Jose Sanchez
“So the flood waters that we saw particularly in some parts of Belize City is just something that is regular to those areas.”
Dennis Gonguez
“Right, right. The rainfall we had from Tropical Storm Alex, the high was about nine inches at Barton Creek in the western part of the country throughout the whole scenario. Here at the International Airport we had about seven inches for the two to three days scenario.”
Jose Sanchez
“In terms of the Doppler itself, how effective was it in just doing the forecast?”
Dennis Gonguez
“It was very effective. In fact the National Hurricane Center in Miami used our Doppler radar to get some fixes on Tropical Storm Alex. They checked into our website and they could have found fixes on where Alex was and how it was moving based on our Doppler Radar.”
Let’s say we dodged the bullet this time…..
Excellent story. At least when it relates to meteorology Belize is on top of things. However, there is always room for improvement. Let’s continue working on it. Excellent.
i really appreciate the professional work this guys do on the weather forecast. With the advance of technology i think that we are doing fine and this will help our jewel from a disaster only ting we have to do is listen to the weather forecast crew and pray God for mercy
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Thanks a lot.
Kuddos to the Met Sevice for a job well done…keep it up…
Thank God for no casualties or deaths!!!
GOD STILL LOVE BELIZE BIG TIME!!!
Excellent work! Kuddos to the people who really care about belize!
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Hey! I live in Belize in the Cayo DIstrict behind Teakettle Village. I read somethign on ABC news about a bridge giving out isolating a mennonite community would this have been Springfeild?? I am in the US visiting family, but my husband is at home on our farm and I have not heard form him since the storm…. does anyone know if the bridge on teh roaring river road got taken out!??
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