Waters in areas of More Tomorrow rise by 16 feet
More Tomorrow is a village off the Western Highway with a population of one hundred and fifty-five people springing from thirty-two families. The village is bounded by the Old Belize River and is one of the oldest villages in Belize. Most of the news of the flooding is now focusing in Belize River Valley but when a News Five crew headed to other affected areas, we found out that parts of More Tomorrow, are under sixteen feet of water.
Duane Moody, Reporting
A large stretch of the access road to More Tomorrow Village is under water and other parts are impassable. We straddled through the waters as far as the vehicle could take us and then paddled our way some three to four hundred meters to get to the nearest resident. According to Village Chairman, Michael Myvette, his house is on highland but his pasture is under water.
Michael Myvette, Chairman, More Tomorrow Village
“The water start to rise Thursday evening but apparently we went out to Belmopan Friday and ih neva mi di rise dat rapidly until Friday night. Friday night over night den ih get dis way. A lot ah people were surprise fi si how fast di water come up dis time because other time ih noh come up like dis. Right now if yoh could see it about fifteen to sixteen feet ah water inna my pasture right yah. Inna di village itself ih noh come dat high, maybe about wah foot, foot and a half. Dah bout three feet in to di back yah so”
And for Marcos Rivas, he and his wife are devastated as house is under three and a half feet of water and his personal belongings have been damaged.
Marcos Rivas, Resident, More Tomorrow Village
“The sponge and everything, di bed and sponge everything. Di seat, everything get wet up because ih mi so high.”
Duane Moody
“How many feet would you say?”
Marcos Rivas
“About three feet high, ih reach to my knee.”
Myvette plans to work hand in hand with relief organizations to ensure that assistance is rendered to everyone.
Michael Myvette
“We contacted our area representative and he assisted us with fuel but the fuel is for emergency only. Dah noh just fi back and forth fi nothing. If everybody come together and seh dehn want something, den we use di boat and we get it or if somebody drop gets sick and it’s an emergency and we have to rush them, we rush them through the old road and vehicle could come and pick them up partway. We have NEMO that coordinates with us and they are looking after things so they can assist us also.”
Others are hoping and praying that the water does not rise any higher.
Marta Hernandez, Resident, More Tomorrow Village
“The water rose on Saturday morning around one in the morning. Yes and we were a little worried, but we put our trust in god that it wasn’t going to rise anymore or else it would have affected us more.”
Duane Moody reporting for News Five.
En route back to the City from More Tomorrow our News Five Crew slid off the slippery roads and with that we take time to advise extreme caution when travelling the highways.
Nearer to the city, the Sibun River continues to dump water in nearby communities along the Western Highway. And in latest reports from the Gracie Rock Village, the waters have risen by an additional three feet. Roads are flooded and residents are having a difficult time getting out to the main highway. In the area of Mile eight, the access road to Western Pine Development is still under water but the development itself has been unaffected by the floods.
