Cleanup begins; damage is extensive

A day and a half after devastating floods tore a swath of destruction across a wide area of Belize, organised relief efforts are being mobilized and residents have commenced the muddy task of cleaning up. At the same time, government is taking stock of the considerable infrastructural damage and seeking both short and long term sources of funding. We’ll begin our coverage tonight by revisiting many of the same areas covered in yesterday’s newscast. In the course of an arduous day of reporting, Janelle Chanona on Monday suffered a back injury. In her place veteran journalist Ann-Marie Williams has filled in on special assignment and joins me in the studio. Welcome Ann …

Ann-Marie Williams
Thanks Marleni.

Marleni Cuellar
Alright.

Ann-Marie Williams
Well, we start out this morning at about close to ten midmorning and we traced the same path that Janelle and Rick took yesterday. It was Rick and I today and if we could ask Rick to roll the footage we will see this is at mile twenty-three—the culvert—right where the culvert washed away. There’s this huge line of traffic waiting to come across. Where you have this great chasm, they are trying to fill up loads and loads of sand and fill just to allow traffic to pass temporarily and there’s a diversion on the side where we were allowed to pass. So if you look now Eric Foreman is one of the Ministry of Works personnel and he’s explaining what exactly went down.

Eric Vasquez, Foreman, Ministry of Works
“We had what we call a diversion so we could have the flow of traffic there so that we can excavate this material that we are putting in now and put in those two big culverts that you are seeing right now so that we have the volume of water passing through more easier.”

Ann-Marie Williams
“You all will have to be constantly patting this because it will not hold up; not to the type of vehicular traffic that’s on the way.”

Eric Vasquez
“Right, so what we are doing, like you said, about the diversion, as soon as we get through we’re gonna bring in a compactor and put in the culverts and compact it and hopefully we’ll have an all year round flow of traffic again.”

Ann-Marie Williams
The Ministry of Works came in to clear the debris. This is a portion of the road up near the valley community. Yesterday we spoke to Polita Evelyn, today we visited her once again and she was doing a bit of clearing after the storm.

Marleni Cuellar
Yeah, this is the area where all the stones from the river bed had come across.

Ann-Marie Williams
Let’s hear what she has to say.

Polita Evelyn, Valley Community Resident
“Wi noh have no water fi cook with soh we have to use di water fi wi washing and cleaning up ah di house. And you know, the most terrifying part was the kids, having the kids fi di night and then di storm come inna di night and we have no way mi fi run because we couldn’t pass no way. Di snakes inna di house dat dah weh I mi fraid fah.”

Ann-Marie Williams
“The water bring in the snakes?”

Polita Evelyn
“Yes, di water bring in di snakes”

Ann-Marie Williams
Okay, this is part of the culvert at six and a half miles down. This whole area is washed away. Drivers need to take precaution when they’re driving. It’s one way traffic either way. The whole—even a huge portion of the street caved right in. this is where they would have to be extremely careful. In the night time there are a few sticks there and you need to be careful. This is citrus Growers Association, total devastation Marleni, you wouldn’t believe it. that vehicle was thrown like a hundred feet away from under the garage and we caught up today with Bridget Cullerton and here’s what she had to say.

Bridget Cullerton, C.E.O., Citrus Growers Assn.
“The way it looks right now, it’s literally a hundred percent. The water came in in the first floor and went right up to the second floor. Everything is covered in mud. We had about twenty-two computers because most of our staff are in that first floor along with top of the line printers because we do publications for the entire industry and all that’s gone. Not to mention of course, the files, furniture. In fact, the furniture was blown out, with the force of the water coming in, all the way on our groves in the back of the compound. We have many small growers who also now we have to help them asses the degree of their crop feasibility for next year because it’s at this time of the year the citrus is what we call “setting” and this gives an indication of the crop they will have for next year. And now, already, what I’ve seen from just driving around this morning, much of what we call “the set” have disappeared which means they will not have a crop at least for the first crop next year. So next crop season, which will begin in late October, November time frame, there won’t be a crop for many, if not most, of the little growers at least the ones in the affected areas.”

Ann-Marie Williams
“What is this disaster saying about an increase in the product?”

Bridget Cullerton
“Well, who knows what our market will have but we were experiencing a very high cost of een producing citrus anymore because of the increased prices in fuel and other input costs; fertilizer. Imagine, eleven years ago when I came here fertilizer was twenty-three dollars a bag, hundred pound bag, now it’s up to ninety plus dollars,”

Ann-Marie Williams
We went a little further up to Hope Creek where they were distributing rations. Look at the watermark on the wall at the Citrus Growers Association. The water was like five feet, seven inches tall. It could cover you and me. So it was difficult. This is Hope Creek, these are some of the residents and they were giving rations out. NEMO spearheaded the task at the I.T.VET, Santiago Acosta was the operations officer in charge. These huge drums have water. a number of the residents actually sheltered at the I.T.VET.

Ann-Marie Williams
“What sort of food items you’re offering them?”

Santiago Acosta, Operations Officer, NEMO
“The basic. We have milk, sausages, rice, corn beef and that type of stuff. We also have clothes items for children and some medication.”

Ann-Marie Williams
Three strategic areas have been set up in Sarawee, Sittee River, Mullins River for people who are affected to get medical supplies and food.

Marleni Herrera, Hope Creek Resident
“Here in Hope Creek, all my neighbours have a … a child still missing.”

Ann-Marie Williams
“The two year old?”

Marleni Herrera
“Yes, then we have a family ah three by mile twenty-one. But I happy; I sorry fi dehn and I happy about myself. My kids are alive. Marissa kids is also same way alive and dehn safe. But my neighbours deh inna terrible shape.”

Marleni Cuellar
A lot of people are affected by what has happened over the last couple of days.

Ann-Marie Williams
Indeed. The search and rescue team was on their way to find the little boy, two years old, nine months, Jayden Roches but he was found later today. That house is where his father lived and he got in the truck in order to try to save him and his son when he heard a knock on the door. The truck flipped over on a tractor and he held on to a tree.

Filbert Roches, Son Found Dead
“Come through of the truck and head to the mango tree right here and when I swim this direction, the current push me into the mango tree to the back.”

Ann-Marie Williams
“You’re swimming with your child?”

Filbert Roches
“Yes ma’am, up here.”

Ann-Marie Williams
“On you shoulders.”

Filbert Roches
“Yes ma’am. I went down, come up, went down, come up until I reach the mango tree and when I reach the mango tree I grab it and we stay deh about fifteen minutes. I take him from my shoulders and put him and put him front of me and the water got me like I am on a bed floating. When I realise that he is slipping I grab him with my mouth. I bite him so hard, I never wanted to let him go. One hard current come and take me underneath and when I went underneath and come up back he was gone.”

Ann-Marie Williams
Marleni, well he found out this evening that the two year old son had been found and of course he was found dead; very tragic.

Marleni Cuellar
He also lost his wife and daughter?

Ann-Marie Williams
No, he didn’t lose his wife. This portion here happens to be Sittee River. We’re going in Sittee River now. They had rations that were airlifted was given out at the police station and there’s a long line of residents from Sittee River here to collect their rations. A social worker was actually doing a need assessment in which she looked at what sort of damage did you suffer, the children, how did they take idea of the flood or the damage psychologically, how many members are in your family. And it’s on that basis that you were given rations. They were given baking powders as you can see there. That’s the social worker and he was talking to each and every single person in the line. I must say the food had been given out timely and people were quite happy. These two women were actually bringing a hot meal for some of the people in the line. We go a little further after these people received their rations and we visit a few families living in Sittee River itself. We will visit shortly, a lady by the name of Sade McKenzie. She actually lived in Sittee River for fifty-four years and she says in all her life she never saw anything like this.

Sadie McKenzie, Sittee Ricer Resident
“I tell my husband get up, the flood is coming across and then he jumped up. He ended up at the shelter in brief because he jumped out of his bed tried to save a hundred sack ah cement over there. When he got to the cement they were wet already. He turned back to save the three grandchildren that we have here and then he managed to put them up on top. I came back for a suitcase that had in clothes for them. He keep handing me suitcases that we thought had in clothes for us. I ended up with a suitcase full of curtains. And then when we went back in the house we tried to put up things on the bed; we didn’t know that the flood was gonna come so high. Then when we were about to come out we couldn’t get out, we were trapped: me, my husband and the other guy that was with us.”

Ann-Marie Williams
“How did you manage?”

Sadie McKenzie
“We were trapped, we couldn’t get the door open anymore because of the force of the water. and then my husband seh well we have to go through the window. When he run to one of the windows it had the burglar bars outside like he was confused so I said but remember we have windows that didn’t have bars, one in the kitchen. They put me out through this one, they took out the louvers and I came out through this one. He came out, other guy came out and as the three of us came out the deep freeze turn over in the kitchen and came and blocked the window. I said God gave us time. We were gonna drown and those kids were gonna be left up there all alone but God gave us time and we thank him today.”

Ann-Marie Williams
Miss McKenzie was very expressive and look at all her things outside. The huge damage she suffered. This is where the Kendal Bridge was located; this huge two span bridge that was constructed in 1985 just got blown away. Well, this afternoon on our way back to Belize City we saw some young men actually profiting from the flood. They were taking people across.

Ann-Marie Williams
“How long since you were out here?”

Anthony Teck, Ferry Boat Operator
“From morning, six o’clock. We’re crossing people across from the other side if the bridge to this side over here.”

Ann-Marie Williams
“Whose idea was that?”

Anthony Teck
“It’s our idea, us the guys that running the dories.”

Ann-Marie Williams
“How much you charging?”

Anthony Teck
“Five”

Marleni Cuellar
“Ingenuity in the mix of disaster.

Ann-Marie Williams
Yeah. Well, he’s serving a useful purpose you would say.

Marleni Cuellar
Yes and I’m sure this is probably going to be the way of transport for a while until they can get something back in place.

Ann-Marie Williams
I reckon they could use a little speed boat and it would be a little quicker because about two people capsized this afternoon.

Marleni Cuellar
In the dories?

Ann-Marie Williams
Yeah. This is where it all started when we came back this afternoon, can you imagine they had removed all the fill that they put there this morning and left this great chasm because they were tying to put back this culvert so we couldn’t pass at all?

Marleni Cellar
This is the same area we saw filled?

Ann-Marie Williams
This is the same mile twenty-three culvert, yes near Middlesex. And I must say a heartfelt thanks to one Mister Gamboa who works at the Ministry of Works. He brought the backhoe and he actually put in fill so that Rick could drive over in the four wheel drive and we made it across safely so that’s our odyssey in disaster for today.

Marleni Cuellar
Lots of disaster and there’s a lot of rebuilding to be done now.

Ann-Marie Williams
And my heart goes out to all the people and the people who are still missing. Five people have been confirmed dead and three are still missing.