June, 2024 - Channel 5 Belize

Beryl Rapidly Strengthens into First Hurricane

The National Hurricane Center is now tracking Hurricane Beryl, currently less than 1,000 miles east of the Caribbean.

The second named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season rapidly intensified from a tropical depression to a tropical storm and then to a hurricane within 24 hours, aided by favorable atmospheric conditions.

According to the latest report from the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Beryl has maximum sustained winds of 75 mph and a minimum central pressure below 992 MB, classifying it as a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. This early season hurricane formation is unusual, as the average date for the first hurricane in the Atlantic basin is August 11.

Water temperatures in parts of the central Atlantic are more typical of August and September, and Beryl’s small size has allowed it to avoid Saharan dust and adverse upper-level winds.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Barbados, while other nearby islands, including St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadine Islands, Martinique, Dominica, and Tobago, are under watches.

Damaging winds, both tropical-storm-force and hurricane-force, extend up to 45 miles from the center. On its current trajectory, Beryl will impact the Windward Islands with damaging wind gusts over the next 72 hours as it moves west or west-northwest.

The latest forecast from the NHC indicates that winds could reach up to 120 mph in the eastern Caribbean, potentially upgrading Beryl to a major Category 3 hurricane. In addition to hurricane-force winds, the storm is expected to bring torrential rains, with forecast totals of 3-6 inches across Barbados and the affected Windward Islands, likely causing localised flooding.

The NHC has also upgraded its storm surge forecast, now predicting a “life-threatening” surge that could raise water levels by 5 to 7 feet above normal tide levels in areas of onshore flow.

Barbados Braces for Beryl’s Impact

As Barbados braces for severe weather in the next 48 hours, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley is urging Barbadians to stay prepared and vigilant as the country braces for Beryl’s impact.

In a video statement tonight, the Prime Minister mentioned meeting with various government departments and agencies earlier today to ensure readiness for any eventualities. She also encouraged Barbadians to look out for each other within their communities.

The Barbados Meteorological Services has issued a Hurricane Watch for Barbados, as Tropical Storm Beryl is anticipated to strengthen into a hurricane before reaching the island late Sunday night.

Residents should prepare for strong winds that could damage homes and properties, along with potential flash flooding, especially in flood-prone areas. Severe thunderstorms may also disrupt power and utility services.

Marine conditions are expected to worsen, with a small craft and high surf warning already in effect due to above-normal sea swells anticipated from Sunday night.

The public is advised to follow guidance from the Department of Emergency Management and local officials. Stay informed through the Barbados Meteorological Services, Department of Emergency Management, and Government Information Service websites, as well as their social media channels and local media.

Tropical Storm Beryl Set to Become Major Hurricane by Monday

Tropical Storm Beryl formed Friday evening in the Atlantic, east of the Windward Islands, and is projected to become a “dangerous major” hurricane by Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

As the second named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, Beryl is anticipated to reach hurricane status by Saturday night or Sunday morning as it moves westward. The storm officially became a tropical storm on Friday, approximately 1,100 miles southeast of the Windward Islands at the eastern end of the Caribbean.

As of the hurricane center’s 11 a.m. advisory on Saturday, Beryl was moving at about 23 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. The center predicts that Beryl will strengthen into a hurricane by late Saturday or early Sunday and continue to intensify, reaching major hurricane status with winds of 111 mph or more before its center reaches the Windward Islands on Monday morning. The atmosphere and ocean conditions along Beryl’s path are described as “abnormally favorable for strengthening.”

However, conditions may become less favorable after the storm enters the Caribbean, where it could encounter disruptive winds that might prevent further strengthening, the center noted this morning.

Tropical Storm Beryl on NOAA Satellite on Saturday morning.

Beryl is currently 820 miles east-southeast of Barbados, and tropical storm-force winds are expected to extend 45 miles outward from the center. The storm could bring heavy rain, hurricane-force winds, and dangerous storm surges and waves as it crosses the Windward Islands on Sunday night into Monday. A hurricane watch has been issued for Barbados, and more watches are expected later Saturday as the system moves further into the Lesser Antilles, which include the Windward Islands, Leeward Islands, and Leeward Antilles.

Barbados and nearby islands could receive 3 to 6 inches of rain, with localized flooding in vulnerable areas and life-threatening surf and rip currents. People in the central and western Caribbean should monitor the storm’s progress, keeping in mind that the forecast’s margin of error can be significant four or five days out.

By Sunday evening, as Beryl moves into the Caribbean Sea, it could have winds up to 105 mph. Although atmospheric conditions in June are typically not conducive to storm strengthening, some computer models are “quite aggressive” and suggest that Beryl could be a major hurricane before reaching the Windward Islands. Once the storm enters the Caribbean, forecast models are not yet in agreement on its potential path. For now, the official forecast cone shows that the hurricane’s center could be near or over the western half of the Dominican Republic and Haiti on Tuesday evening and over Jamaica or eastern Cuba on Wednesday evening.

Threvane Thomas Arraigned for Shooting Up ComPol’s Residence

We begin tonight’s newscast with the arraignment of a young man who is accused of opening fire on the home of Commissioner of Police Chester Williams earlier this week. The incident happened on Tuesday night while the ComPol was out of the country. At home was his twenty-two-year-old son who contacted him by text message informing him that someone was shooting at the residence. Tonight, twenty-one-year-old Threvane Thomas is on remand at the Belize Central Prison. The resident of Camalote Village appeared in the Magistrate’s Court in Belmopan this morning. He is facing a raft of charges, including aggravated assault and possession of a prohibited firearm, which was a forty-five-calibre pistol. Police were quick in apprehending Thomas after surveillance cameras at the residence captured him.

Minister Musa Says Attack on ComPol’s House was Egregious

Thomas will have his day in court as he spends his first night in jail, and today we had an opportunity to ask the Minister of Home Affairs, Kareem Musa to speak about the attack on the commissioner’s home. He thinks the incident was egregious and cowardly and he says the police are looking for two more culprits who they believe acted along with Thomas to carry out the crime.

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs

“It is, in my opinion, a very egregious and brazen attack on one of our most prominent public servants the commissioner of police. And our ministry and the government on a whole we absolutely condemn this type of reaction from these gang elements. Who in my opinion are trying to make a statement. I can tell you that individual has already been detained. He has already been charged with the offense of aggravated assault with possession of a prohibited firearm. And so that person will be spending some time at Hattieville, at Colby Foundation. But he did not act in isolation. He acted in concert with other individuals. We already have information on who those individuals are, and the police are actively pursuing those individuals.”

State of Emergency in Effect for Ninety Days

The alleged gang members who were swept up at the beginning of the state of emergency, in parts of Belize City and Cayo District, will spend the next three months behind bars at the Belize Central Prison. Earlier today, during the sitting of the House of Representatives, Home Affairs Minister Kareem Musa read the proclamation declaring the S.O.E. and how long it will remain in effect.

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs

“Now be it resolved that this honorable house extends the proclamation declaring a state of emergency in certain parts of Belize City and certain parts of the Cayo District made by the Governor General on June 24^th, 2024 for a period of two months. This motion, Madam Speaker, has the recommendation of the Cabinet. And by way of explanation, Madam Speaker, we have arrived at a point where decisions, swift and certain, must be made to ensure that our Belize remains on track to be the best country in which to grow up and raise a family. We cannot do that in a country where a few feel that they have the power and impetus to wreak havoc on our streets, planting seeds of fear in the minds and hearts of hardworking and law abiding citizens of our country. Belize is certainly not a state where lawlessness, more especially that which leads to the senseless loss of life reigns supreme. We are even more certain that we will not allow any corner of our country to fall into a state of normalized lawlessness. Opening fire on a mother and child exiting their vehicle, or the elderly men riding on bicycles is not normal. Blazing bullets in the dead of night at a police station is not normal, and most certainly, shooting a barrage of bullets into the home of a senior public servant, the Commissioner of Police, no less, is not the Belizean way. These wayward activities will not be countenanced will not be tolerated and will not be condoned.”

Doris Grant and Austin Underwood Remain in Prison Under S.O.E.

Two weeks ago, an attempt on the lives of Doris Grant and her common-law husband, Austin Underwood was made while the two were on their way home from a Trinibad concert in Belize City. Grant’s name had been in the news on several occasions, following an arraignment in the lower court for obtaining property by deception, leading to several raids being conducted on her property. Just four days after the shooting, forty-eight-year-old Grant and thirty-one-year-old Underwood were charged with being a member of a gang. Today, an application for bail was submitted on behalf of Grant and Underwood by attorney Ronell Gonzalez, on the grounds that his clients needed more medical attention than what is currently being provided to them at the Belize Central Prison. Grant and Underwood were subsequently granted bail to the sum of five thousand dollars each. Despite this, the two are being held in prison for an additional ninety days, under the state of emergency. Here is Gonzalez with more details on his clients’ medical conditions.

Ronell Gonzalez, Defense Attorney

“I submitted and filed a detailed application for bail on behalf of both mister Underwood and Miss Grant and a major part of the application was to outline to the court their medical condition. Both are in serious need of medical treatment at this time. mister Underwood has suffered a gunshot wound to the left leg that I understand is being infected because of the lack of medical treatment at the prison. That is my instructions from him and that in fact, miss Grant also has an injury to the hand. Now, I have presented medical evidence to the court saying that both these individuals have bullet fragments. They have the lodging of the bullets in the skin and in the bone still. On behalf of mister Underwood, he has it in the bone. And I have the x-rays and so on that I presented to the court to explain that they are in desperate need of medical surgery. We have shown that there is medical referral saying that they need to undergo immediate surgery. After a period of time, as I understand it, these matters can become poisonous within the skin and therefore it causes a threat to, in this case, limbs and possible loss of limb to the leg and to the hand of miss Grant. So that is the position in terms of their medical condition at this time.”

L.O.O. Says Attack at ComPol’s House is A Sign

We took the opportunity while we spoke with the Opposition Leader to ask him about his thoughts on the attack on Williams’ residence. He said that while it was relieving to know that no one got hurt during the shooting of the house, the act itself was a sign that Williams’ time as commissioner has expired, a message that the opposition has been sending a while now.

Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition

“Despite my vehement criticisms of the Commissioner and denunciation of his poor performance, I’m happy that no one was injured, happy he wasn’t there. And I’m happy that his son was not injured. I don’t know if happy is the right word – maybe relieved, because there is still a sadness in the fact that we have come to a point in our country where criminals feel that they can attack the Commissioner of Police. If this is not a sign that for the commissioner to go, I don’t know what is.”

P.M. Addresses Crime and Violence in Belize

Prime Minister John Briceño also weighed in on the crime situation this morning. He pointed to various initiatives that his administration has undertaken to provide employment for opportunities youths, as an alternative to crime and violence. He also touched on the importance of education and the need to keep children in school.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“As a government, we’ve been saying it over and over, that we would not allow a small group of people to terrorize our law abiding citizens. We have been doing everything possible to assist everyone. We’ve been working and growing the economy that presently, Madam Speaker, there is an unemployment rate of three percent, never seen in the history of Belize. I make that point because if these young men want to work, there is work for them. We have been working with small businesses, with MSMEs, creating opportunities and again, many of them will say, “Oh only the big guys have access.” We have changed that so if they want to get a taxi, they could come in and register themselves as an MSME and get a taxi to run or whatever it is. What is important is that we have to ensure that we protect the little ones because whenever I speak to my colleagues, especially those on the south side where we have the most pronounced areas of gang activities, they are telling us that we have to ensure that these little kids stay in school.”

House Speaker Addresses L.O.O. Concerns on Standing Orders

Today’s house meeting was a one-sided affair after the Leader of the Opposition and four other U.D.P. area representatives boycotted the sitting of the House of Representatives. On Thursday, Shyne Barrow wrote to the Speaker of the House, pointing out that the schedule for the meeting deviated from the five clear days notice that has been established. In his letter, the Leader of the Opposition wrote, “failure for this honorable house to follow the five-day notice protocol disenfranchises the Opposition, obstructing our ability to satisfy the required five day notice as per Standing Order Nineteen-three for the extremely crucial questions to ministers.” This morning, at the start of the session, House Speaker Valerie Woods addressed the letter in the absence of the Opposition Leader.

Valerie Woods, Speaker of the House

“I also would like to bring to your attention, members, that I was contacted by the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Mesopotamia, regarding the concern on the late notice, as he worded it to me, regarding this meeting. In the interest of disclosure, I was given an official complaint letter yesterday during the course of the day and I responded. With your indulgence, I would just like to give my response to you so it forms a part of the record, but also to ensure that members on both sides are aware of the rules that are currently in the standing orders. And it reads: Dear, Honorable Moses Barrow, Leader of the Opposition, I acknowledge receipt of your letter of protest on the notice period for the house meeting called for tomorrow, June 28^th, 2024. The Clerk of the National Assembly was notified on Sunday, June twenty-third, by the Cabinet Secretary on behalf of the executive for June twenty-eighth to be set aside for a house meeting. This was brought to my attention and the notice went out on Monday, June twenty-fourth when the orders of the day were verified. I do appreciate the concern on notice, however, the notice for this meeting is not in contravention of the standing orders.”