A comprehensive evacuation plan revealed

Darrell Bradley

While shelters are ready, they should be a last resort. CEMO has also worked on an elaborate and comprehensive evacuation plan. According to Mayor Bradley, that evacuation in the event of a natural disaster takes everything into account, including the ongoing municipal street-works.

Darrell Bradley, Belize City Mayor

“In the event of a hurricane, what we have done is, when there is an evacuation order that is given—that is an actually physical thing that is done—there is a lot of preparatory work that goes into making an evacuation order. That is an actual physical thing that is done. There is a lot of preparatory work that goes into making an evacuation order. They would consult with CEMO; I am the chairperson of CEMO. They would ask our opinion and advice in relation to when or whether an evacuation order should be issued. When that evacuation order is issued, before that order, we would have already known because we know now what the evacuation routes are and we would have already put in place measures to ensure that that road or wherever people have to exit the city from is passable. The evacuation routes that Phillip Willoughby did; it is so detailed and one of the things that I wanna emphasize in this is that it was done with partnership from the business community and other relevant stakeholders. So that for example, if you have to evacuate heavy equipment, there is a certain day that you have to evacuate that equipment. If we are talking about buses, there is a certain day that buses will leave the city. If you are talking about voluntary evacuation, when people will drive their private vehicles, there is a certain day and time that those things are to be done. So that the evacuation route is not only putting up signs, but that there is a process involved in evacuation including ensuring that the pathways for the evacuation are ready and that those streets are passable. So that a lot of process went into this and we would ensure from the standpoint of the City that all evacuation is done in a very smooth way.”

The Belize City Council will be hosting a symposium at the Belize Biltmore Plaza on Tuesday to discuss climate change issues with stakeholders.