Houses toppled and roofs blown away in Hattieville
Hurricane Richard did not spare the Belize District. After winds measuring up to ninety-five miles per hour hit the coast, many hoped that it would subside after passing Belize City but the most powerful bands of the hurricane slammed parts of Hattieville, some fifteen miles on the Western Highway. The devastation covered the entire village; it was one of the hardest hit. Several houses were flattened to the ground; countless zinc roofs were blown off houses while trees were literally rooted up and turned over by the winds. A News Five crew was in Hattieville earlier today to assess the damage. Jose Sanchez has a report and joins us on set.
Jose Sanchez
“We’re here at the Boom Road near the graveyard and this is one of the homes that has totally been destroyed. As you can see, nothing was destroyed. A family of six lives inside this home and we are going to speak to Shelly Augustine, the daughter of the homeowner. Shelly can you tell me what all happened?”
shelly augustine
Shelly Augustine, Hurricane Victim
“Well we weren’t at the house at the time the incident happened. Our neighbor called my mom and told her that the house dropped. So we came to the site at approximately one-thirty and we saw that the house had collapsed. It’s obvious that we can’t stay in the house, we lost everything—mattress, soap, clothes, sofa, TV. The house was positioned to the front and apparently the breeze took it off the post to the back. It was approximately ten feet off the ground. There’s approximately seven of us living in the house and we don’t have nothing. Everything is loss—water loss.”
Jose Sanchez
“So what are you guys gonna do? Just camp out?”
Shelly Augustine
“We need help. We’re looking forward in order for the ministers to assist us—Mister Hutchinson—he’s our area representative, NEMO, we are looking forward for them to assist us with the little situation we are in at this time. The youngest in the house is a one year old and we can’t stay in the house like this.”
Jose Sanchez
“Our next home is that of Richard Arnold. He has lost his roof. Richard tell me how you weathered the hurricane?”
Richard Arnold
richard arnold
“Well bout five thirty when I see di lot of breeze, I decided to move into my old lady house on the road side. Den deh time the breeze di start lift up the roof and thing. I neva expect this cause I mi done gone up there and put on some cement block cause that mi wah hold it up. I can’t believe it.”
Jose Sanchez
“If you take a look around, it’s a good thing that all the people in this area decided to move out of their homes. There is absolutely no roof on this home. Every room is drenched. You take a walk through this corridor you can see clothes, the mattress. Everything is absolutely drenched in water. You can see clear blue skies again but not the site you want to see inside the home. The damage in Hattieville has not been limited to roof as you can see entire houses have been destroyed. If you take a look, you can see the wooden stairs that went up to this house. The only thing that seems to have recovered is a good news bible and an oxford dictionary. And if you take a look around, lives could have been lost if people were here. Bicycles, slippers, what once was a refrigerator underneath, you can see various things that lives could have been lost.
It’s lucky that Richard went by and no one died. Clearly it is a great devastation and the effect on persons who felt the brunt of Hurricane Richard. We are here with Merrill Baptist, the mother of the homeowner. Merrill tell s what was lost.”
merrill baptist
Merrill Baptist, Hurricane Victim
“The washing machine is there, the TV, a refridge and the household item and the clothes for the children and ih have two that are going to high school, Wesley college. They need a house and they need clothes for the children to return to school.”
Jose Sanchez
“We’re here with Valerie McKay. Her house experienced a lot of damage during the Hurricane. Valerie how did you get through the storm?”
Valerie McKay
“Well I didn’t stay in my house. I came out early and take out what I could. But all the other stuff is damage. I stayed over at my daughter.”
Jose Sanchez
“How many of you live in the house?”
Valerie McKay
valerie mckay
“It was me, my four younger children, my older son, my daughter and my two grandchildren. It was very scary. Some of the clothes wet up some dry. We will see what we will do.”
Jose Sanchez
“So you haven’t lost your spirit?”
Valerie McKay
“Naw, when you have God, you can’t lose your spirit. Its material things, you know God can replace them.”
