This morning in Belize City, cabinet also met with Chief Met Officer Ronald Gordon and National Emergency Coordinator Daniel Mendez for a full briefing on Hurricane Beryl. P.M. Briceño has declared a Tropical Storm Watch from Belize City to Corozal, including Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker, which will remain in effect until further notice. Hurricane Beryl is expected to hit the Yucatan Peninsula late tonight through early Friday morning. Nonetheless, northern Belize is expected to experience moderate to heavy rainfall, potentially leading to localized flooding in low-lying and flood-prone areas. In light of this development, Cabinet advises all Belizeans to remain vigilant and heed advisories issued by NEMO and the National Meteorological Service.
Month: July 2024
NEMO Corozal Remains Activated Overnight
NEMO’s Corozal District Office Coordinator Ronnie Hernandez says the District Emergency Operation Center will remain activated throughout the course of the night. Hernandez tells News Five that residents in Corozal Town should remain vigilant and only listen to information from credible sources. He urges them not to panic.
Ronnie Hernandez, NEMO District Coordinator, Corozal
“So far we have been continuing our preparations when it comes to the E.O.C. being fully activated. We have mainly eighteen different shelters readily available. We have the forms ready with the persons from the village emergency committee also municipal. I would say that the town council has put their works on the ground. So far we are just vigilant at the moment watching the system and the projections of where it is going to. No need to be alarmed, no need to panic. It is to stay in tuned with the relevant information. The E.O.C. is fully activated. We have our plans on the table. We have had the different keys being distributed to the closer in the event we need to open shelters.”
Shelters in Corozal Remain Closed Until Need Arises
Following NEMO’s latest press conference and the Chief Meteorologist’s most recent update, Hernandez is of the view that Corozal District is in a much better position tonight. He says that based on the assessments conducted on the shelters, residents should be adequately prepared to face the weather ahead. Shelters will remain closed until the need arises.
Ronnie Hernandez, NEMO District Coordinator, Corozal
“Remains the same and a bit better position, reason why because we listen to NEMO, they are the most reliable source alongside the met service. We have received advisory number five, advisory number six and based on the advisories I think people are prepared to receive this small impact we may be having as you can see we will be expecting feeder band with winds nothing major. Rains we cannot escape from we will be having, we cannot escape that. But like I said we are vigilant. We are here at the E.O.C. The public service, we have the mayor himself all the town council members are here giving their shift hours to the E.O.C. We are working in conjunction. We have honorable Florencia Marin having full contact with us also. So I think we are ready available for the public.”
San Pedro and Caulker Residents Prepare for Beryl
San Pedranos and Caye Caulker residents have a good sense of when to evacuate, and even though Beryl’s course shifted northwards away from Belize, over four thousand residents of both islands still took no chance and sought shelter on the mainland. However, many remain in San Pedro and sought to batten down. In NEMO’s three o’clock media update today, we discovered that despite the caution issued, some merchants on that island are still looking to hike up the cost of goods, including plywood and sliced bread. Belize Rural South Area Representative Andre Perez and San Pedro Mayor Wally Nunez, who took part in the briefing, spoke on these issues.
Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South
“That was a big issue, not only with the price of bread that was being sold at $5 and it was a regular size 16-ounce loaf, and the receipt shows that it is $5. I don’t want to aim or isolate that specific business location, but we have been aware of this specific location actually, having high prices with ease. So certainly we’re looking at it. Not only with food prices, but also the issue of certainly a couple of businesspeople and hardware stores selling the plywood. I think they the half inch sizes which was going for $110 – ridiculous prices – what we’re seeing and we are meeting and saying that we do not have any space for this type of business. I think these are unscrupulous businesses that take advantage of our community when, in fact, it is our community that gives them the opportunity to do business in San Pedro and by extension, in Caye Caulker as well. And that’s uncomfortable. It’s illegal as well, of course, to do that. But also, it’s an ethical man. You don’t do that to a community that is needed at the same time. So we know who they are. Mayor and I were very much discussing that we are going to be visiting these people and also to further mention that the bureau standards and we’re actively engaged with them and they are going to actually, to avoid this. It happens all the time. This is not the only time we’re seeing this, but especially in this extraordinary time where the storms is – we are under threat. No, but the point is we are looking at getting eight people trained. We have gotten the advice already from the Bureau of Standards. We’re going to get eight people and two for Caye Caulker to go through that training. So we have them permanently staffed here in San Pedro and Caye Caulker because it’s too much. We got to put a stop to it. And the evidence on that one was clear. Five dollars for a local bread, unacceptable.”
Wally Nunez, Mayor, San Pedro
“You can clearly see that there’s not that much people on the street because there’s a lot of people out there who left the island. So if we can put a word to it, it looks like a ghost town out there. We don’t have much people going around earlier today. We had some people that were doing their last-minute shopping, but after everything closed down at 12 o’clock, everybody went back home. Right now I am heading to another meeting and I will be out. And I will be checking out how it looks out there.”
Hurricane Beryl Aftermath in Jamaica
On Wednesday, we spoke with a Belizean student in Jamaica just before Hurricane Beryl impacted the island with category four strength winds. We heard from Brianney Smith earlier today, following the passage of the storm. She is doing well but says that many of the main roads in Jamaica are impassable, while several homes have been destroyed. She told us about the unpleasant experience she had weathering a category four hurricane.
Brianney Smith, Belizean Student
“The experience was kind of scary. My shutters were not able to fully close so for me that was kind of frightening. Luckily I have my dad at home and I gave him a call. He helped me to figure out a way to get it shut. I was able to manage that. I would the say the wind and the rain rattling all of the shutters and you can hear, you cant really see outside because the rain and breeze and all kind of things were flooding the window. So, it was a scary experience and it was for hours on end. So just when you think it was slowing down a little bit the wind and the rain and everything just picked up back. The scariest part for me was when it hit nighttime and you cannot see anything outside and you hope that what is happening isn’t too devastating. It transitioned from just wind and rain to thunder and lighting and wind and rain, and it is the kind of thunder that rattles everything inside. Thank God the worst of it is over and that the damage to campus was not that great. Based on what I heard and what I have seen and the images coming into me, I have some friends from Saint Elizabeth that have been really devastated, all of, it is a coastal community, all of their wooden houses, their taches. They has up some taches and everything complete destroyed. A lot of their fruit trees, all of their roofs have just been dismantled by the storm. So my thoughts and prayers goes out to everybody in Saint Elizabeth specifically and all the other communities that have been devastated by the storm.”
Former Central Bank Governor is Victim of Home Invasion
On Tuesday, an elderly man was ambushed, tied up and robbed at his home in Burrell Boom Village. He is seventy-eight-year-old Alan Slusher, former governor of the Central Bank. Reports are that Slusher arrived at his residence around six p.m. and upon existing his vehicle, he was accosted by four men, three of whom were armed. Slusher was then led into his house and bound with duct tape. The men proceeded to strip him of his nine-millimeter Luger Brand Pistol and ransacked the house, making off with a magazine containing fourteen, live, nine-millimeter rounds of ammunition, two air rifles, and Slusher’s 2017 Toyota Hilux Pickup, the value of the stolen items amounts to ninety-eight thousand, eight hundred and eighty Belize dollars. After the assailants fled the scene, Slusher was able to untie himself and contact the authorities. Police are currently investigating the crime.
ComPol Says Arrests Coming Shortly for Coleman Murder
Thirty-six-year-old Solomon Coleman was killed in Belmopan on May twenty-eighth and there has not been an arrest yet. Police were having difficulties establishing a motive for the killing, but the Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams says that he has since met with Coleman’s mother and also with a team of investigators and has given them instructions to press on with the investigations.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“I have also assembled a team of experienced investigators from Major Crimes, C.I.B., G.I-3 and Special Branch to look at all murders from January to present with a view to see how we can revive those investigations – go back and re-interview witnesses, go back, look at video footages to see if we’ll be able to find something that we may have overlooked in the past. So that team, which is headed by Senior Superintendent Gerald Jones, is extremely busy looking at all those cases and that matter with Mr. Coleman came up yesterday, and I think that they have gotten some further information which should be able to lead to arrests, so hopefully very soon we should be seeing results coming from the team that we assembled and they are also looking at the gang membership investigation where the gang members are concerned. So again, the objective is for us to be able to see how we can not just have these people in prison, but to investigate the cases that they are accused of with a view to be able to successfully making arrests where those cases are concerned. So I’ll ask Mr. Coleman mother to just be a bit patience with us. We understand her pain and her need for wanting to see results from the police. And we’ll do our best to make sure that she gets justice for whatever took place with her son.”
Two Police Officers Charged for Separate Offences
A woman police officer assigned to the Dangriga police formation has been charged with theft. This follows an allegation by a citizen who gave P.C. Kia Jones a lift and claimed that the officer stole fifty dollars from inside her vehicle. And in a separate incident, another officer, P.C. Ryan Timmons, has been charged after he crashed a vehicle while driving contrary to the free flow of traffic. Commissioner Williams assured that the police department is tough on officers who break the law.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“That police officer has been charged, and it goes to show that when we have complaints of the misconduct of our officers, we waste no time to take action. How more effective can we be?”
Reporter
“One of them was involved in a car crash and a vehicle crash by Pound Yard Bridge, driving up-stop came around Wood Street, he crashed into another vehicle and I understand there was also a domestic charge pending which has been dropped. Will this police officer be charged for failure to provide a sample and for causing that traffic accident that police was charged?”
Chester Williams
“I think yesterday I think it’s P.C. Timmons, right? Yes, he was charged.”
Reporter
“And then – but he was involved in something, such outlaw behavior, going up, stop speeding, all of these things. What do you think when you see something like that?”
Chester Williams
“Well, as far as I’m concerned, he commits a breach of discipline and he has to break the law and he’s not immune from criminal liability. And so he has been dealt with.”
Fuel Stations in the City Close Early
The various service stations across Belize City made their own individual hurricane preparedness plans when Beryl took aim at this region. Some of those gas stations revised their plans, but most of them decided to go with early closure to give their employees a few hours to batten down and do hurricane shopping, just as a precautionary measure. News Five went about the city and spoke with employees at two of the fuel stations. Marion Ali filed this report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
The uncertainty of Beryl’s trajectory earlier this week prompted several fuel stations to shutter down early as a precautionary measure. Even when the hurricane’s path became clear today, most of the stations still stuck to their original plan.
The Ekron Service Station at mile one on the Philip Goldson Highway, also known as Puma, closed at two o’clock this afternoon.
Marvin Sanabria, Pump Attendant, Ekron (Puma Northern) Service Station
“We are closing at this time because that’s the rules we have to follow and because we don’t know what we expect later. So, that’s why we’re closing early. We put on the shutters because we don’t know what might happen later, you know? I don’t know if they want to come break in. So – but we di open 6 o’clock in the morning, but we also closed early because to be sure that we’re safe home or, you know, everybody’s safe home. And everybody done deh home safe.”
Marion Ali
“They’re giving you time to go and take care of –“
“Yeah, giving us time fi mek wi go home and see what else need to get done or get ready for later, so.”
Marion Ali
“Okay, but 6am for sure you’ll be here?”
Marvin Sanabria
“Yes, 6am in the morning.”
According to Isaac Logan, the Shell Gas Station at the corner of Central American Boulevard and Cemetery Road pushed back its closing time from midday.
Isaac Logan, Pump Attendant, Shell Gas Station
“Wi mi wa close 12 but dehn change it and we are set and seven are closed. Four. Right. The reason why, because due to the weather already left so, and it get weakened. So according to the boss and NEMO that everything is already on a basis. Today we going till 4 because this plan was already set for the workers then, right? So we have to do the process – finish off the process and do what we have to do at home, right, cause we still got the lee weather, you know, lee rain and breeze weh di come to as well, right?”
Marion Ali
“So you open what time in the morning?”
“We are working from six, from six till, till –”
Marion Ali
“Usual time?”
Isaac Logan
“Usual time.”
The usual time for the convenience store is ten p.m., but the station will resume its twenty-four-hour pump service on Friday.
One station that we found will be open until ten tonight was Uno at the junction of Central American Boulevard and Cemetery Road. Marion Ali for News Five.
B.E.L. Equipped to Provide Power During Approaching Storm
In just a few hours, Hurricane Beryl is anticipated to make landfall in the Yucatan Peninsula. The category two hurricane is expected to affect the northern districts of Belize with rain, winds, and flooding. Considering this, the public has raised concerns about a possible disruption to the country’s power supply. However, Belize Electricity Limited is assuring customers that it is prepared to weather the storm. In a statement released earlier today, C.E.O. John Mencias says that C.F.E.’s transmission system in Mexico, which Belize is connected to, can physically withstand a category three hurricane. Mencias further states that B.E.L. has sufficient in-country capacity to meet peak demand should C.F.E. be unable to supply Belize with power. B.E.L. maintains that while it is confident in its ability to supply energy during the storm, there are many other factors associated with hurricanes, including lightning, flying debris, and mudslides, that can cause transmission system outages. B.E.L. asks the public for patience as the company works towards keeping the lights on during this time.