Flood Watch in Belize City
If you are in Belize City, you are probably wondering when we will get a break from the heavy rains and what is causing it all. Today news five was out surveying the scene from downtown Belize City to Belama. We found many streets inundated and impassable for smaller vehicles as water levels rose. But in case you are wondering if the result of climate change, the Met Service explains the localized conditions causing this bad weather that will continue through to Thursday.
Duane Moody, Reporting
It has been raining since Monday and while it’s a relief compared to the sweltering days, in low-lying areas in parts of the city, the constant rains have flooded streets, entrances to houses are blocked and smaller vehicles are traversing the pools of water with care. Belize City alone has received about four inches of rainfall since midnight.
Ronald Gordon
Ronald Gordon, Chief Meteorologist
“That is exactly what has led to the flooding in the city. And as you mention that, we have indeed issued a flood watch since yesterday when we saw the forecast for more rainfalls today. And that watch is going to get upgrading shortly to a warning since we already have flooding occurring in the city. And the forecast is for there to be more rainfall tonight into tomorrow morning with the activity gradually decreasing on Friday. There will be more rains on Friday, but not as much as what we have seen today.”
The inclement weather is due to a system that has been dumping on the country. While it has passed over the country already, Chief Meteorologist Ronald Gordon says that other parts of the country are also experiencing the effects of the tropical wave.
Ronald Gordon
“Since the start of this week, we have entered a pattern that is more moist as compared to last week. We had a tropical wave that crossed the country yesterday and the approach of that system started the rains on Monday, continuing through yesterday and intensifying further today. The wave is now to the west of us, however, we do have an upper level high pressured system which serves sort of like a pumping that is pumping air out from the upper levels of the atmosphere and because the atmosphere is continuous, if you take out air from the top, air from the bottom needs to rush in and rise up and that is the perfect ingredient for thunderstorms to develop, cloudiness and showers and that’s what we are seeing today with the system. Currently, Belize City is getting the bulk of it, however, since morning we have seen rainfalls occurring from as far south as northern Toledo district to north as in Orange Walk district and far west as the Belmopan area and a bit further west. Those are the areas over which the rains have been concentrated.”
We are told that members of the City Emergency Management Organization at City Hall went out to do assessments today; the results of which have not been disclosed as yet. Meanwhile, Gordon says that even though it is not a major storm, consistent rainfall can cause displacement and affect residents differently and so they must remain alert.
Ronald Gordon
“We should be always on the alert. And also to mention, another point that I like to always drive home is that it doesn’t take a tropical storm or a tropical depression to cause serious weather conditions. Currently we are experiencing heavy rainfall and flooding in parts of the country, particularly in the Belize City, and this is not a tropical depression or storm. So you could have serious weather events or you can have significant impacts from systems that are not tropical depressions or storms.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
