In Belize City, Councilor Phillip Willoughby is spearheading the efforts of the City Emergency Management Organization, CEMO, and met earlier this evening with law enforcement officials, as well as representatives of other government agencies. The last bus north left from Belize City at five p.m. today, following instructions from NEMO that all public transportation traveling […]
Sometime after nine on Sunday night a fire in Belize City claimed the life of toddler. He was left home alone when a fire started at his house and neighbours were unable to get him out because he was locked in when his mother went to the shop to buy. The fire claimed the baby’s […]
A toddler lost his life in the fire on Santa Barbara Street and more than ten persons are without a home. The four families lost everything they owned after the fire spread from house to house in the yard. We spoke with three of the affected families today who told us that they are staying […]
Since the fire on Sunday night, CEMO has been on the ground assisting the displaced families. CEMO, along with Ministry of Human Services and other local partner agencies are providing support to more than ten persons who lost everything to the blaze. Since last night they were moved to the St Martin’s School where they […]
On August third, 2016, residents across the central and northern areas of the Belize District braced themselves in anticipation of Hurricane Earl which made landfall in the early hours of August fourth. The category two storm caused severe damage to homes and businesses in Vista del Mar, Ladyville, as it made its way inland. The […]
A Belize City family is tonight seeking public assistance to recover some of what they’ve lost, following a fire that destroyed their home and all its contents three weeks ago. Patrice Flowers, her common-law-husband and their children have been separated from each other, living in different homes as they remain in distress from the disaster […]
There was a massive fire inside the Commercial Free-Zone in Corozal during the early hours of this morning. According to a late report from the police, around one a.m. Corozal Police visited Menandros Store in the Corozal Free Zone where the building was seen engulfed in flames. Police say that personnel from the fire department […]
A fire on Supal Street, Belize City has left seven persons without a home. The weekend fire wiped out one house completely and partially destroyed another. Both properties were not insured and the fire victims say they are really in need of assistance to rebuild their lives. News Five’s Andrea Polanco has more. Shern […]
UNICEF and government are putting children at the center of hurricane and emergency preparedness and risk management. In a “train the trainers” workshop, representatives from local government, human services, ministry of education and other agencies are learning how to provide support through educational methods to children who are exposed to pain and loss during times […]
Going beyond the typical post-disaster needs of victims of fires, hurricanes, flooding, crime and other catastrophes, CEMO Coordinator Philip Willoughby says local government officials need to do more for our youngest during these tough times. Philip Willoughby, Belize City Coordinator, CEMO “There are several agencies in attendance today to see how we synchronize, collaborate, […]
A Belize City family is out of house and home tonight after their residence on Zacaranda Street was gutted by fire. The twenty-by-twenty-five foot wooden structure was, according to fire personnel, deliberately set on fire and its residents lost all they owned. But the question tonight is, did someone conspire to burn out the Flowers […]
According to police, Erwin Santos was considered armed and dangerous while on the loose. Some six hours before his detention, his family home in Teakettle was burnt to the ground. His father, Mark Santos, believes that the fire was deliberately set because the wooden house had no electricity. No one was in the house because […]
Thirty-one-year-old Letson Broaster was missing since last Wednesday but over the weekend his body was retrieved from the Macal River, in the area of Branch Mouth in the Cayo District. His seventy-three-year-old mother was at the police station when she was called out to do what any mother would dread. She believes that her son […]
A woman claims that a family dispute that started out with threats has gone too far. She alleges it has resulted in arson that wiped out her home on Sunday night. The unemployed, single mother says the fire has hit her hard because she has nowhere to go. She says that moments before her home […]
Tonight, some villages remain under water in southern Belize. Since five o’clock on Sunday morning, NEMO Toledo was activated because several villages were flooding and portions of the highway were impassable. Due to heavy rainfall over the course of Friday and Saturday, the overflowing Temash and Moho Rivers inundated several low-lying communities. Villages like Santa […]
A domestic dispute among members of a Ladyville family has resulted in the alleged torching of a property in the Milpa Site area of the village. According to thirty-four-year-old Lorna Bardalez, she woke up shortly before midnight on Thursday and discovered that an adjacent wooden structure belonging to her cousin was on fire. The small […]
As the first month of the hurricane season comes to a close and families and businesses count the daily cost of other kinds of natural disasters, one of the key questions for businesses is: are you prepared, not only for any disaster itself, but for continuing with business afterward? More than twenty local Belizean businesses […]
The rains over the weekend, specifically in the west, cause flashfloods in Bullet Tree and nearby areas in the Cayo District. The waters rose up to eight inches inside homes and damages to property were minimal. Today, when we visited the area, the waters had subsided and NEMO Coordinator Al Westby told News Five that […]
The waters receded rapidly, but it did cause a problem. Since Saturday, the Bullet Tree Village has been without water at the pipes. The torrential rains over the weekend damaged the pump at the water system. NEMO Coordinator Westby told News Five today that a replacement pump should be installed overnight and running water should […]
There was a small fire in the city this afternoon. Sometime after four this evening, a fire started in a lower flat of a building at the Dorothy Menzies Child Care Center. Quick response from the fire service contained the blaze and no one was hurt. We understand one or two pieces of furniture damaged, […]
Two persons drown over the weekend in separate incidents in the north and west of the country. Just after nine on Sunday morning, the decomposing body forty-four-year-old Acita Flores was discovered floating about half a mile north of Consejo Village in the Corozal District. The Sarteneja villager was among eight other persons from the village […]
The second drowning over the weekend involved a seventy-nine-year-old man from the Cayo District. On Friday afternoon, Eduardo Landero jumped in the river and didn’t come back up. His decomposing body was found on Sunday morning and was buried immediately. But the family says they believe the drowning was not an accident, but was deliberate […]
Fires have been sparking all over; the latest blaze was in Carmelita, Orange Walk where a concrete spilt level house went up in flames. The fire erupted at about eleven o’clock on Saturday night and destroyed the building. Its owner, Carole Gillette is in the United Sates so it was left in the care of […]
Two persons drowned over the weekend in separate incidents in the Belize and Cayo Districts. In Bermudian Landing, in the Belize River Valley area, twenty-three-year-old Denia Zelaya was with her common-law husband and two other friends swimming in the Belize River, just behind the Howler Evolution Tour establishment on the main road. The outing ended […]
This extended holiday weekend saw two fire-related incidents. In Belize City, a teacher sustained minimal damage to his residence, but in Orange Walk, the home of a security guard was wiped out in what was believed to be a deliberate act by his own son. We start at the residence of twenty-eight year old teacher […]
