NEMO on high alert
But while the residents were busy packing up, officials of the National Emergency Management Organisation were on alert, ready to spring into full action.
Ramon Frutos, Acting Chief Met Officer
“The centre has now moved or drifted slightly inland over north-eastern Honduras and the projection is that it will continue to move westwards but the center will remain inland. Now that is good news because this will hinder further development or strengthening of the depression so it will probably remain as a depression and a very slow mover. However, it will be a rain producer too and it has been producing quite a lot of rainfall over Nicaragua, Honduras, over Guatemala, Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula.”
Marion Ali
“That wasn’t the projected path up to, I believe, some time early this morning. What caused that change?”
Ramon Frutos
“Well, the projected path was generally westwards but just offshore along the coast or just north of the northern coast of Honduras. It was being indicated earlier that a slight shift or jag to the south would bring the center inland and that’s basically what happened. However, what probably produced that is a high pressure system over the eastern United States and Florida and that ridge of high pressure is extending southwards into the eastern Gulf of Mexico. So that has been producing some of the influence in causing some slight southward motion in this system. So generally now, they have it moving west southwest, slightly south of due west.”
Marion Ali
“So when it crosses Belize it should be …”
Ramon Frutos
“Well, it will be south of Belize if it continues along this path. However, it is also possible that if it continues to move very slow the center could be relocated once again over waters. That could happen too. So it’s something that we need to continue to watch. However, as I mentioned earlier, it is a big rain producer so we have to continue to watch it very closely because the amount of rainfall that is being projected—four to eight inches over low lying areas and up to fifteen inches in the hilly terrain—could result in flash floods and inundations. Water levels as we know, in most of the rivers especially northern Belize, are at flood stage. Those water levels in the rivers in the central and southern Belize are just below flood stage or about normal. However, it won’t take much rainfall for these rivers to rise in the central and southern part of the country. So we have to continue to monitor this very closely because it could cause some localise flooding and flash flood conditions in the hilly terrain.”
Victor Castillo, NEMO Coordinator, Stann Creek
“All the villages, flood-prone areas they have selected some shelters so that they could move to. For example, in Hope Creek the closest shelter there is in Pomona; the Pomona community Center and in Sarawee, the closest place for them would be the high school and Ecumenical College. And in Sittee River, there’s a Methodist primary school down there that will be open in case of emergency.”
Marion Ali
“Are there shelters opened as of now because residents are ready to move? They are packing up and they are to move.”
Victor Castillo
“They are going to inspect all the shelters. So whenever they return and they will be leaving at three, that will be time when we could give a time for the shelters to be opened.”
Marion Ali
“Have you mobilised teams to go out in these various areas and tell the villagers listen this is the plan, we need to move, when we need to move, what we need to move? Because these people are telling us they don’t know what the plan is because they haven’t heard anything, they haven’t seen anybody, they haven’t heard anything. They are monitoring the radio and all they are getting if information about where the storm is but not what the plan is on the ground.”
Victor Castillo
“We have officers going to places to Mullins River, Gales Point and they will be telling people—Hope Creek and all the other flood prone areas—and they will be telling people what to do, where they will be going. So they are being mobilized.”
NEMO is calling on residents in the south to stay tuned for further developments.
