We also heard from Corozal Mayor, Rigo Vellos. He and his team at the town council spent the night monitoring the movement of Hurricane Beryl. Mayor Vellos says that he is pleased with the level of caution taken by residents in the town. He says Hurricane Beryl gave the council an opportunity to better prepare for the remainder of the hurricane season.
Rigo Vellos
Rigo Vellos, Mayor, Corozal Town
“Last night we stayed vigilant making sure that we follow every single step this storm was taking, listening to the reports. That is what we had to do to ensure we stayed abreast of what is happening with the storm. Luckily, we were fortunate. We are blessed by God that it went a bit north and did absolutely no kind of damage to Corozal Town or to the district. That is the good relief we had this morning waking up knowing that all clear is given and we did not receive absolutely any damages. I do believe what made a huge difference is the information coming through NEMO. They did their part in making sure they informed the public, the Corozalaneos of what was happening, what to expect, how to prepare. By now we are well educated when it comes to preparing for a storm and of course NEMO doing their part, the town council doing their part. We were prepared, people took it seriously. Of course, you will never have a hundred percent of your people who would take it seriously. But the majority took it seriously. I can tell you that when I was out between twelve and one there was no one on the street. That is a good sign that everybody stayed indoors monitoring the system. What it did gave us an opportunity to prepare a bit better. It is never a perfect score. There is always room for improvement and this storm that passed allowed us to do that. Just like the weekend before when we had all that rain and a bit of flooding that helped us to distinguish the areas we needed to improve when it comes to the drainage system. Last night it only taught us how we can prepare a bit better, what else we need to add to improve whatever system we already had in place.”
Tonight, we have a news team in Corozal Town. They will be overnight in that municipality to capture the extent of the winds and rains that residents will likely face when Hurricane Beryl makes landfall in the Yucatan Peninsula. Landfall is expected just after midnight. What News Five’s Paul Lopez found on the ground this evening is residents scrambling to get in some last-minute shopping at the handful of grocery stores that remain open. Most businesses have been shuttered and many of the main streets in the town have limited to no traffic. The central park is unusually empty for a Thursday evening, while several residents are undergoing last-minute work to secure their homes. Clearly, there is a heightened sense of alertness in this part of the country. News Five’s Paul Lopez tells us more.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
As the sun begins to set on Corozal Town, the most northern town in Belize, seas behind me remains calm. Resident are expecting the weather to rapidly deteriorate over the course of tonight. When you look at the main streets, traffic seems to be limited. There is practically no one inside the park and businesses have been shuttered, closed, since midday. Several grocery stores remain open for residents to do their last minute shopping. Interestingly, we met two brothers from San Jose who missed or forgot the bus schedule and as a result missed their bus out of town. Here is what they told us.
Samuel Novelo
Samuel Novelo, San Jose Resident
“My name is Samuel Novelo. We are headed to San Jose.”
Paul Lopez
“Why are you guys standing out here right now and you seem to have a bit of cluelessness in your eyes?”
Samuel Novelo
“We the try get a ride because the bus left us. So, the bus was suppose to head to Belize from four oclock but it didn’t leave from here. It went, so we are trying to catch a ride to go to village. Me and my brother.”
Paul Lopez
“Were you here on time for the bus?”
Samuel Novelo
“Yes, four o’clock, cause that is the time they gave us. The bus came but it didn’t go to the terminal. It went straight to Belize because he didn’t see any customers there.”
Paul Lopez
“How high is your chances of catching a ride right now?”
Samuel Novelo
“We the try hustle a ride at least dah Santa Clara and then we will try to catch a ride to village.”
Paul Lopez
“Is it urgent to get out of Corozal tonight?”
Samuel Novelo
“As soon as possible. I need to reach home. I have a lot of things to do home, put some nails in the windows and a lot of thigns like that. We were at work waiting for the lady, the boss and she reach late. Now I have to hitch hike and reach.”
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
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.”
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
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.”
The northernmost portion of Belize continues to brace for tropical storm force winds, as Hurricane Beryl is projected to make landfall in the Yucatan Peninsula. Flooding in the north is a major concern as this system is expected to dump several inches of rainfall. NEMO’s Corozal District Office says it is prepared. The office is encouraging residents living in low-lying, flood prone areas to seek shelter. Residents have been keeping track of the record-breaking tropical system. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
May Donn
May Donn, Corozal Resident
“Right now I have no plans because we have to work and thing. But we are aware of it, but dah nuh like I have no plans as yet.”
Paul Lopez
“Do you see people around you doing anything for preparations?”
May Donn
“No, nobody, probably they are taking it lightly.”
Paul Lopez, Reporting
We spoke with May Donn on Tuesday afternoon in Corozal Town. She, like most of the residents we spoke with, was aware of the threats Hurricane Beryl poses to Belize. Marlo Portillo and his family had already stocked up on their groceries.
Marlo Portillo
Marlo Portillo, Corozal Resident
“We already have some beans ready for the hurricane. We see people buying stuff over the last two days. Yeah, a lot of people buying stuff yesterday and today too. We pray to God that it does not come this way because we are scared, the kids are afraid too, everybody is scared, we pray to God the hurricane does not come this way.”
The National Emergency Management Organization’s Corozal District Office says it is prepared to weather the storm. District Coordinator Ronnie Hernandez says shelters are ready to keep residents safe. Shelters will open as the need arises. The most vulnerable in the populations are also being considered.
Ronnie Hernandez
Ronnie Hernandez, Corozal District Coordinator, NEMO
“We don’t have thirteen operational committees now, we have fifteen operational committees. The two additional committees consist of maritime and the special needs committee. The special needs committee reported that we have a plan. We stick to the Corozal Community College, there is a building for the old folks home here in Corozal which of course are flood prone. We do have a plan when it comes to evacuation. This people can be placed there along with the people in charge and watching over them.”
Apart from possible tropical storm force winds, flooding is one of the primary concerns in the Corozal District. Over the weekend, incessant rain led to unexpected flooding in several communities in the north. Hurricane Beryl will likely dump a significant amount of rain in these areas.
Tenielle Hendy
File: July 1st, 2024, Tenielle Hendy, Principal Hydrologist, NHS
“Right now the entire north and part of central Belize the soil moisture is very saturated. So there is not a lot of room for waters to go through the soil. They are at capacity. They have taken all that they can take. So, what happens is that turns into runoffs, it leads to flooding and eventually goes into the river.”
Mayor Rigo Vellos weighed in on the possibility of flooding in the district, while warning residents not to take any risks.
Rigo Vellos
Rigo Vellos, Mayor, Corozal Town
“I know there will have people who would want to come and there will be people who want to come out, but like I said this is something very serious. Even if it is just rain, it will be a lot of rain and we need to be prepared. As leaders we need to encourage people that if they stand a high chance of getting flooded not to take the risk but move to shelters. I know that we are working very closely together with DEMO and NEMO is the one giving the advice.”
Ronnie Hernandez
“Whenever you are going to a shelter you know you have to take your own food for seventy-two hours. After seventy-two hours the relief and supplies management committee kicks in. I have always told my village emergency committee, but Mr. Hernandez, they ask me, what if the person doesn’t have anything to eat. If the system was not coming, what would you eat, they have tortilla, little piece of bread, bring it to the shelter, the humanitarian part of these other will open a can and give you a sausage.”
Preparations are underway in several parts of the country, but the Corozal District stands to be the most impacted in Belize. NEMO’s Corozal District Office was activated on Tuesday morning. More than a dozen shelters have also been identified. Over at the Corozal Town Council, Mayor Rigoberto Vellos and his team are getting drains cleaned and debris removed. But how seriously are Corozal residents taking this storm? News Five’s Paul Lopez travelled north today. He filed the following report.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
According to the latest update from the National Meteorological Service of Belize, the northernmost parts of the country remain in Hurricane Beryl’s projected path.
Ronald Gordon
Ronald Gordon, Chief Meteorologist, NMS
“In terms of the projected path not much has changed since we last updated you. It is still forecasted to move generally west north westward for the next twenty-four to thirty-six hours and impact the island of Jamaica on Wednesday. Thereafter the system will further weaken due to vertical windshear as it enters the northwestern Caribbean sea through Thursday and move west to northwest towards the Yucatan Peninsula with a likely landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula late Thursday night into Friday morning. The probability cone is still relatively wide up until landfall. It extends from the extreme northern parts of Belize all the way to the northern tip of Yucatan indicating a high level of uncertainty to that point.”
Giovanni Trimerous
Giovanni Trimerous, Corozal Town Resident
“Right now I am working at the casino. I don’t really have a plan because they haven’t told me yet if they will close the casino or not. I am waiting for my pay to so that I can buy my stuff and things like that.”
Today in Corozal Town was just another ordinary day. Businesses were open and residents walked the streets apparently carefree. As Chief Meteorologist Ronald Gordon indicated earlier, the extreme northern part of Belize remains in the cone of probability.
Giovanni Trimerous
“It is really a strong hurricane and I think it could cause so much damage here in the north, because it is coming for the north so.”
Mayor Rigoberto Vellos says residents were out in numbers on Monday night panic buying. Several hardware stores have reported being out of plywood already.
Rigoberto Vellos, Mayor, Corozal Town
“From yesterday, there were a lot of people who went into panic mode. I know they rushed the grocery stores, I know I think up to yesterday there were no plywood at the hardware store and so people are taking this serious which is a good sign. It is best we take it seriously than not to take it seriously and regret it afterwards.”
The National Emergency Management Organization’s District Office in Corozal was activated as of nine a.m. today. NEMO District Coordinator Ronnie Hernandez is urging residents in the town and surrounding villages to remain calm, but vigilant.
Ronnie Hernandez
Ronnie Hernandez, District Coordinator, NEMO
“If we are prepared, which we are doing. We have had so much days to do so, people will know that you need to go to a shelter in order to save your life first. You will not be there to save your property and lose your life. We can get back we can build back better, but our lives come first.”
Fifteen hurricane shelters have been identified by the NEMO Corozal District Team.
Ronnie Hernandez
“If we activate these shelters, meaning we declare these shelters open through NEMO headquarters we have Our Lady of Guadelupe, Cristo Rey, Corozal Community College, Concepion, Caledonia, Buena Vista, Mary Hill, Louisiana Ville, Pachakan, Copper. Bank, Progresso and Escuela Secondaria Technica Mexico.”
Those shelters remained closed when we spoke with Hernandez around midday, in the absence of a declared watch or warning. But, later in the afternoon, Chief Meteorologist Ronald Gordon informed reporters that he has advised NEMO to declare a tropical storm watch.
Ronald Gordon
“Given the fact that we will likely experience tropical storm force winds and there is a possibility of tropical storm force winds for the northern part of the country, we have been communicating with the National Hurricane Center in Miami Florida and I have been advised NEMO Coordinator who have liaised with the prime minister and we will be declaring a tropical storm watch at the six p.m. advisory at six p.m. this evening. that will extend from Belize City, moving northward to the border, including the islands of San Pedro and Caye Caulker.”
A tropical storm watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible within the watch area during the next forty-eight to seventy-six hours. In Corozal, the town council is working to clear the drainage systems in flood prone areas. Mayor Vellos has a live hurricane tracker projected to the wall inside the town hall’s conference room.
Rigoberto Vellos
“We are taking this very serious and that is the message I want to leave to my Corozalenos and all Belizeans, not to take this for granted, regardless if it is just the tail we need to be prepared. This is our command center, we also have a committee, the town council disaster committee, that will bunk out here if anything. We want to ensure that we are responsible enough as a town council and we deal with our residents with love.”
Hurricane Beryl is still over a thousand miles away from Belize, but already it is affecting business in the country. On Monday, the Belize Sugar Industries Limited stopped receiving burnt cane to prepare for the passage of the hurricane. The crop would have come to an end in the next few weeks; however, the premature closure will result in losses to cane farmers in the northern districts. B.S.I., in a press release, explained that it needed to shut down operations because it needed sufficient time to render the mill and cogeneration plants safe before the hurricane. After that two-day process, the factory must then finalize its hurricane preparations to allow employees twenty-four hours to also carry out their personal hurricane preparations. Today, News Five’s Marion Ali spoke with Alfredo Ortega, the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association Vice Chairman of the Committee of Management, about the losses caused by the recent floods and the early closure caused by Beryl. We also got a word with Minister of Agriculture, Jose Abelardo Mai about the two situations. Here’s that report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
What began as a significant loss to canefarmers in the north, can be made worse should Hurricane Beryl cause flooding in the sugar belt which is already inundated by recent floods. Alfredo Ortega, the Vice Chairman of the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association’s Committee of Management, tells News Five that the recent rains came at the most inopportune time for the caneros, just when Tower Hill was processing more than regular amounts.
Alfredo Ortega
Alfredo Ortega, Vice Chairman, Committee of Management, B.S.C.F.A.
“When they started to increase their milling, it’s when the rain fell and it was so hard for the farmers to bring all that cane. And what happened also is that it increased. The amount for the farmers to bring all that in from the field because they had to use other tractors and some of them had to bring it out with the loaders and it really increased the cost for the group leaders to bring all that cane from the field and with the abrupt stuff that happened the farmers had to lift that amount of cane in the fields at which amount.”
The Minister of Agriculture anticipates that Hurricane Beryl will not cause severe flooding to exacerbate the existing problem. The wait and see, however, is causing precious time to slip by.
Voice of: Jose Abelardo Mai
Voice of: Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture
“I am not sure if we will have time to reopen the mill again, to be honest. From what I understand, a lot of product was lost in the flooding, and also we had to stop production, so what already had been burnt is going to be lost as people go home and prepare for the upcoming hurricane.”
Britney Gordon
“Is there any sort of figure you can give me in regards to the loss of cane?”
Voice of: Jose Abelardo Mai
“No, because yesterday when the mill closed, it was at midday. I was called by a few people – farmers expressed that they still had cane in the fields being harvested, so I asked them to try to get the cane out before the mill closes but they were struggling to get it out in the wet cane fields.”
Ortega says that the current losses caused by the floods are estimated at around two thousand tons of burnt cane alone. This is separate from cane that is still in the ground. Those losses won’t be determined until after the crop closes in a few weeks.
Alfredo Ortega
“What the personnel from B.S.I. was speaking [about] is that they believe that they can go if the weather permits to mid July or a little bit more if the weather permits. So we don’t know exactly what for a date right now to finish, but what they said is in the mid of this month that just started. But as we speak, that we have the threat of the hurricane, maybe not a direct landfall, but we will be having an amount of rain due to that. And we don’t know what will be the extent of the damage or the flooding that we’ll be having with them, so we don’t know if this is the end of the crop or we will be having some more days after the hurricane. So we cross our fingers.”
B.S.I. is working with canefarmers to improve the climate resilience of their crops by supporting the replanting of cane varieties. This would decrease the industry’s dependency on one variety alone. Ortega explains that this is a program the factory is offering them. He says that it is something that some farmers accept and some still have reservations about.
Alfredo Ortega
“They called it in Agro-Pro, I believe on which they are giving services to farmers on planting or replanting their fields again, on which they are proposing different varieties that they have. Nevertheless, there are some farmers that are somewhat sceptical to the new varieties because they have had a bad experience before with new varieties being planted on their field. It’s accepted by some because they really want to have new plantings on or better yields on their field, but there is an amount of farmers that are really sceptical on getting that service for them because at the same time, the service is a little bit high, and it’s like a, loan that you get for that service to happen.”
Several villages in the northern districts have suffered quite a bit of losses to their homes due to flooding caused by recent rains. Over the weekend, videos showing floodwaters rushing through the low-lying villages painted a dismal picture. And while that is bad enough, there was also significant damage to cane fields in those districts. The tallies are still being conducted as farmers are just now returning to their cane fields to check on the extent of their losses. Today News Five’s Marion Ali stopped in Libertad Village, and spoke with the B.S.C.F.A.’s Libertad Branch Chairman, Estevan Villanueva about the damages.
Marion Ali, Reporting
This was how one farmer’s cane field looked when we visited Libertad Village today. All the investments that went into this work will be a loss for him and his family. We could not find them, but we found Estevan Villanueva, the BSCFA’s Chairman for the Libertad branch.
Estevan Villanueva
Estevan Villanueva, Chairman, BSCFA Libertad Village
“We have about 150 to 200 acres in flood. Okay. Apart, we have mature can that’s in flood and we don’t have a good road to, to come out to take out the, that can, that’s a loss right now. We don’t know if if the factory goes ahead and it makes good time after this, this time that is coming, we maybe we can take it or not. We will lose all of those cane.”
The access road to one of the cane fields looked like a river, with floodwaters streaming through. Villanueva told News Five that the floods also damaged the roads that were repaired.
Estevan Villanueva
“They try to fix it but right now with this flooding the current carries Gallaudet they don’t like if they don’t do nothing. When it’s flooded, everything goes to the to the lower part, it carries the dirt from the road and that breaks solid dirt alley road so that and make it harder to weed to take out cane and it costs a lot.”
Villanueva says that cane farmers absorb all the losses when their fields are inundated. He adds that what we saw in Libertad is just a small part of the damage suffered in the north.
Estevan Villanueva
“In Corozal we have like Caledonia, we have like San Victor, we’re nearby to San Victor, we have um, um, those two villages that have more than Damages on us like like Douglas branch, they are you have already have a bigger flood.”
Now with a hurricane staring at Belize at the end of this week, Villanueva says they are preparing for a bad crop.
Estevan Villanueva
“If more flood, we will have more damage, more losing of cane because, the water kills the cane and all those canes that is coming up, everything will die and we will have a bad crop next year if the flood comes.”
Notwithstanding the many application rejections, one political hopeful in Corozal North did get the response he was hoping for from the People’s United Party. Doctor Einstein Bodden has been a medical doctor for the past ten years. He was diagnosed with scoliosis at birth and has been wheelchair bound for his entire life. But that is not stopping him from pursuing his vision to represent Corozal North and differently abled people in parliament. The Corozal North convention is scheduled for July fourteenth. The winner of that convention will face off against U.D.P’s Hugo Patt. We spoke with Doctor Bodden over the phone.
Via Phone: Dr. Einstein Bodden
Via Phone: Dr. Einstein Bodden, P.U.P. Convention Candidate, Corozal North
“It was a difficult decision to make. I never came from a politically inclined family meaning that I am from the P.U.P. or U.D.P. My family was very neutral when it came to politics. So, working as the doctor in the area for over several years I have noticed that there is a lot of need in the area. The area in my humble opinion has been abandoned for quite a period of time, at least for the time that I have been there working. As a big fan of plan Belize and working with the NHI I would have liked to see plan Belize roll out more in the area and I haven’t been seeing that as much as I would like. The area has been neglected by the current elected area rep and also the P.U.P. standard bearer so after repeatedly hearing many of the concern by residents I decided to throw my hat into the political arena. After discussing it with close family members and supporters they were like politics is nothing different for you. It is just another challenge in terms of my disability. Being disabled I am aware of the many needs that disabled people go through and I don’t see a lot of those needs are being addressed and so I thought that getting into politics’ I will be a voice for disability as well.”
The Corozal Bay Constituency has yet to decide on a standard bearer, as the People’s United Party readies itself for the approaching general elections. Elvia Vega-Samos’ post is being contested now that Thea Garcia-Ramirez, daughter of the Prime Minister’s C.E.O., has announced her candidacy. Today, the minister of Home Affairs, Kareem Musa, weighed in on the situation.
Kareem Musa
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
“I think Honourable Elvia has done a wonderful job for the good people as a result being. And at the end of the day, I am sure that we will get excellent representation coming out of the debate.”
Reporter
“In the same way that mister Usher was spared a contest because mister Pollard wanted to run against him, should Elvia have been spared in the same way?”
Kareem Musa
“That is a matter for the National Campaign Committee. Unfortunately, I do not sit on that committee. I do not hear the deliberations of that committee. But I am told that they met sometime last week. And that decision was made.”
