The National Meteorological Service issued a small craft warning in the wake of the passage of Hurricane Beryl across the Yucatan Peninsula. Chief Meteorologist Ronald Gordon also spoke about a tropical cyclone that will likely produce rainfall over the country this weekend.
Ronald Gordon
Ronald Gordon, Chief Meteorologist, NMS
“We do maintain a small craft caution because winds will become gusty especially after persons operate small vessels, we advise them to be very cautious. We are open, it is all clear, but certainly we need to take heed and to ensure we take precautions against anything out there. In terms of the weather conditions, we expect continued showers as I said before. There is another tropical wave coming in behind Beryl that we were monitoring previously. That system no longer has a chance of becoming a tropical cyclone, but certainly it will produce some more rains over the weekend. We are not out of the rainy season so expect more rains and we will keep monitoring and operating. And of course, as you all know we forecasted and expect a very busy Atlantic basin season so certainly it is possible that we may see another threat before the season is over. We take lessons learnt from this system to ensure we are better prepared in every way possible.”
With an all clear issued, Daniel Mendez, the National Emergency Coordinator, says the organization will resume normal operations as it continues to prepare for what lies ahead. This hurricane season is forecasted to be extremely active. Mendez says Hurricane Beryl presented an opportunity for NEMO to fine tune its operations for the remaining five months.
Daniel Mendez, National Emergency Coordinator, NEMO
“NEMO now resumes back on its preparation state. We are again, we have resumed our normal operations, and we are back on preparedness. As the chief met said we are in the middle of a very busy hurricane season and so we ourselves at NEMO have been taking note of all the lessons we have seen. We are taking steps to improve our organization. As you are all aware this is an unprecedented year. WE have been responding to many types of hazards and we have been working diligently to improve our systems and we will continue to do so for the rest of the year. We no longer are preparing just for hurricanes. As you have seen with the fires and floods, we have to be prepared for everything and so we are also continuing our efforts to improve. We have, with the support of our minister and C.E.O. We have been able to push these things ahead, so I want to thank them for their support, leadership and interest in improving our system. As we have consistently been saying since the begging of the season, preparedness is really important. So, the question we should be asking ourselves is, if the system had come our way were you ready for it. That is a good question to ask everyone and if you were able to say yes you were ready then you are really looing forward to this season. For those who were not ready, it is time to take those measures and improve.”
Hurricane Beryl showed the inaccuracies of the intensification models used by meteorologists to determine the strength of tropical systems. Hurricane Beryl rapidly intensified and it maintained its strength as a major hurricane for days leading up to its landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula, contrary to what was being forecasted in several instances. Chief Meteorologist Ronald Gordon addressed these inaccuracies this morning.
Ronald Gordon
Ronald Gordon, Chief Meteorologist, NMS
“Indeed I have always indicated that we have low confidence or not as much confidence in terms of intensity forecast cause we already know that the rapid intensification of these systems is something our forecast models have difficulty with and that has been for sometime and it has not changed much. There have been some improvements but there is still challenges so if in regard to your question about lessons learnt, that lesson has been learnt from long before. Whenever there is a hurricane coming our way and it is forecasted to be a category one, I always indicate that it could be a category two or three at landfall because we know these things tend to intensify especially when it moves over our area with very warm water, so we need to look out for that. In terms of wind shear if there is very strong wind shear there is nothing much that can, in terms of counteracting. It all depends on which is stronger. If the wind shear is strong it is going to disrupt the hurricane no matter what and that is just the scientific aspect of it.”
This morning, the National Emergency Management Organization declared an all-clear for areas in the country that were under a tropical storm watch. Hurricane Beryl made landfall early Friday morning north of Tulum, along the Yucatan Peninsula. A tropical storm watch was still in effect for Belize City all the way up to the Belize-Mexico border with the expectation that northern Belize would experience incessant rainfall and tropical storm force winds. But Hurricane Beryl shifted its course further north throughout the night. Except for two shorts periods of rain on Thursday night, the northernmost town in the country remained dry and free from tropical storm force winds. There was a bit of panic among residents of Corozal leading up to Thursday night. But this morning, worry turned to a collective sigh of relief, as residents in northern Belize went about their daily routine. News Five’s Paul Lopez spent the night in Corozal Town. He filed the following report.
Paul Lopez
Paul Lopez, Reporting It is approximately seven a.m. in Corozal and it appears as if the town has been spared any sort of excessive rain throughout the course of the night or tropical storm force winds. If you look behind me the sea is calm. There is some overcast right now and a bit of drizzling. But everyone seems to be going about their morning routine seemingly without any fear, concern or worry. On Thursday morning, Hurricane Beryl was forecasted to make landfall along the Yucatan Peninsula. It was projected to bring rains and tropical storm force winds to northern Belize. As a result, most businesses in Corozal Town closed at midday, except for a handful of grocery stores that remained open to accommodate last-minute shoppers.
Jose Zetina
Jose Zetina, Resident, Corozal Town “We just get a little heavy rain right now, a heavy rain shower but according to what I know the hurricane is moving a little upward so we have been receiving some rain and I don’t know if in the night, but that is as far as I know.”
By late Thursday afternoon, Hurricane Beryl began to move further north of Belize. Yet and still, residents took no chances and secured their homes. In Calcutta Village, hours before the tropical system was projected to make landfall, one family sat around a table in front of a fast-food restaurant enjoying a meal with little to no concern.
Adrian Tun
Adrian Tun, Resident, Calcutta Village “We just experienced like two episodes of rain. That is everything. The palm tree not even the move and it has a wasp nest on it. So nothing the go on. I think that thank God because we always have to give God thanks because nothing the go on and we hope to keep it that way. We hope the weather doesn’t deteriorate or anything like that. But at this moment in Corozal everything all right. I am glad that everybody do the necessary hunker down. I see they have plywood on their windows, and we have to heed the warnings but thank God everything is alright.”
Ronald Gordon
Ronald Gordon, Chief Meteorologist, NMS
“Hurricane Beryl made landfall this morning, just after four a.m. as a category two hurricane about five miles northeast of Tulum Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula.
Fortunately for us here in Belize we had minimal impacts from the hurricane. The last time I looked the highest wind gust was thirty-four miles per hour recorded up in the north at Ranchito in the Corozal District. We were spared the strong winds from this system. In terms of rainfall, we are very grateful that God has blessed once again. We had about one to two inches but that was not in the north. The north got about half an inch or rainfall.”
At seventy-thirty a.m., Daniel Mendez, the National Emergency Coordinator, declared an all-clear for the areas that were under a tropical storm watch.
Daniel Mendez
Daniel Mendez, National Emergency Coordinator, NEMO
“I want to reinforce the message that Belize is under a state of all clear. We believe there is no longer a threat president from Hurricane Beryl. Based on the advice from the N.M.S. we advised the prime minister that businesses should reopen today.”
In Ranchito Village where the National Meteorological Service of Belize recorded slight tropical storm force winds, we spoke to one resident who told us that he may have slept through those winds.
Marvin Rancharan
Marvin Rancharan, Resident, Ranchito Village
“We feel good because everything gone through good and no disaster, everybody wake up feeling good, village clear. We had a little rain like around seven the showers dropped and we didn’t hear anything else after that. We were prepared, we bought enough groceries, water, food, light, we were prepared for the weather.”
In Corozal Town, Eric Donn was up early and off to work.
Eric Donn
Eric Donn, Resident, Corozal Town
“The way I feel, I feel glad because we serve a big God and only God could move that storm. So, that is just to show the nation that we serve a big God. So, whether we believe or not, we can do better, but only he could move that storm, no man could move that storm. We just board up the house, get some rations and the normal way you suppose to be prepared, try to be safe as much.”
Paul Lopez
“How concerned were you?”
Eric Donn
“We had to be concerned, because this weather is nothing to play with. Anything could happen in a storm, so we have to be concerned. But we never get no rain or anything so we have to thankful to God bout it.”
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.”
Up to very early this morning, Mayor Wally Nunez and the San Pedro Town Council were out assisting residents to reach the Sage Brush Hurricane Shelter in time, just in case Hurricane Beryl jogged south and tore through Belize. The category three hurricane was packing winds of over a hundred and thirty miles per hour, as it neared the northern coast. It eventually tracked northwards as meteorologists forecasted. Today, News Five’s Marion Ali was on the ground in San Pedro today. Here’s that report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
When we arrived in San Pedro at a few minutes to nine this morning, most of the homes and smaller businesses were still secured with sheets of plywood. Larger businesses were shuttered. La Isla Bonita is an island teeming with traffic, but there was hardly any of that before midday. The town hall was still battened down, but atop its roof, the green flag flew, signalling that the “all-clear” had been declared. In the centre of town, a businessman removed the sandbags he had used to secure his property. A few miles north in San Mateo, residents were returning home after seeking shelter elsewhere.
Tyrone Young and Lilian Rivero had to secure their pets inside their homes since the shelters did not allow animals. They were happy to return to them today.
Lilian Rivero
Lilian Rivero, Resident, San Mateo Area, San Pedro
“We prepared everything from two days before; thank God nothing happened. We didn’t stay here because as you can see, it’s low and we are at the side of the lagoon, so we had to move out. We went to stay in a hotel overnight and we are just coming in, fixing everything, taking off plywood, fixing everything again in its place. As soon as we get a little bit of rain, we get all here flood up.”
Marion Ali
“So a hurricane would definitely had left you flooded.”
Lilian Rivero
“Yes, that’s why we were on alert.”
Marion Ali
“And you have several pets. Where did you put them?”
Lilian Rivero
“They stayed inside of the house. Just now we released them out. There’s a little cat over there also. They were fine in there. Thank God nothing happened. But if it was going to be flooded, they were safe inside.”
Tyrone Young
Tyrone Young, Resident, San Mateo Area, San Pedro
“At first it was, you know, [I was] on the brink of tripping because, well, we don’t know if it’s going to really get to be more than a category one, category two, what stage it is, because you’ve got to be up here for unexpected, right? The tide was already raising at the bridge. It was already coming like drastic so I was like you said, panicking a bit, but at the same time be on a safe side, send a couple prayers, and you’ll be alright. I got to get back to get back to reality, right? Taking back the stuff down, hoping for the stores to open up.”
John Velasquez also decided to secure his home and then seek higher ground. He believes his house would have suffered damage, had Beryl made landfall in northern Belize.
John Velasquez
John Velasquez, Resident, San Mateo Area, San Pedro
“It comes from the north and it’s very – it’s not so really strong, you know, but it could cause a little bit of damage. But thank God, nothing happened, you know. I went for to a shelter and I just come back right now.”
Along with their respective families, Rivero and Velasquez sought shelter at hotels on the island.
Over at Sagebrush Church, one of two official hurricane shelters, sixty persons sought refuge for the night. After the final NEMO meeting, the Belize Rural South Emergency Coordinator was grateful that residents heeded the warning.
Vanessa Parham
Vanessa Parham, District Emergency Coordinator for Belize Rural South
“This storm could have – we could have been like Barbados, we could have been like the Windward Islands and, you know, and we’re grateful to see that our residents actually heeded our caution. And for that, I am very grateful.”
Marion Ali
“Looking back at it, was there something that you would like to have seen, maybe work out a little smoother or next time, is there anything that if you are ever put through this again, that you’d like to work out a little better?”
Vanessa Parham
“That is a great question. There is always room for improvement. As you know, San Pedro has around 20,000 people living here. We have Caye Caulker and we have to take into consideration that people also have their livelihoods, when I mean they’re working. They have families, they have children in school. And so to see how we can best adopt a more earlier preparation phase when it comes to evacuations.”
Mayor Wally Nunez spent the better part of Thursday night working to ensure that all their plans were put into effect, and by ten a.m., the council and its staff were already back at work.
Wally Nunez
Wally Nunez, Mayor, San Pedro
“Our town council staff actually showed up to work today at 10. The main purpose was to get prepared for next week, to get our computers and everything back in order. However, we did notice that we had good staff showing up and we opened the town council. So it is open at the moment. We have like a skeleton staff because we don’t have everybody on board and we understand that.”
Area Representative Andre Perez is also the Minister of Disaster Risk Management. He is satisfied with what can now be regarded as a successful test run.
Andre Perez
Andre Perez, Minister, Disaster Risk Management
“We had almost 5,000 people that moved out of the islands, both islands of Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye, so, that says a lot about a community that did heed to the storm and that we were telling them to be watchful of this, that we had to – we had a threat in front of us. So, while we have people saying, you know, nothing happened. We are guided by what the med service tells us and indeed, it’s a storm that is very threatening and did damage to different countries, we got spared. So the next time it comes around, we still do the same thing.”
While officials closely monitor weather forecasts over the next five months of this hurricane season, Lilian Rivero joked that this scare was enough for the rest of the year.
Lilian Rivero
“I nuh even remember if it’s Friday. I don’t know if it’s Friday or what. Hopefully, no more come around.”
This morning, the National Emergency Management Organization declared an All-clear for Belize, confirming that the country is no longer under a hurricane watch. For the past few days, Hurricane Beryl was closely monitored as it tore through the Caribbean and sped towards the Yucatan Peninsula. Ahead of the storm, many Belizeans evacuated flood prone areas or prepared their households to weather the impacts of storm. Today, New’s Fives Britney Gordon took to the streets of Belize City to hear how the public feels now that the threat has passed. Here’s that story.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
Hurricane Beryl has made landfall in the Yucatan Peninsula and Belize is officially in the clear. The category two hurricane bypassed Belize, as was predicted by the National Meteorological Service, and made its way into Mexico on Thursday evening. As a precaution, many Belizeans put into effect their hurricane plans. On Thursday, several businesses suspended operations to give employees time to adequately prepare, should the storm reroute to Belize. We spoke with Owen Morrison, an employee of Shell gas station, to hear how the station chose to handle the situation.
Owen Morrison
Owen Morrison, Shell Employee
“What our management did is just to make sure that We are here on time. We are prepared and ready for the customers that when they come, we give them that full service. And that for us, ourselves, they make sure that they close a little early so that we can go home and take care of our family as well.”
As of this morning, most businesses were back in operation. Water taxi services, including San Pedro Belize Express and Caribbean Sprinter, remained closed as they prepared the boats for use. Morrison says that, given the all-clear, the station is ready for customers. Although, he notes that business has been slow.
Britney Gordon
“What time did you close yesterday and what time did you open up today?”
Owen Morrison
“We closed yesterday, four o’clock in the afternoon and then we opened six o’clock this morning.”
Britney Gordon
“So now it’s resumed business as usual?”
Owen Morrison
“Yeah, business as usual, but then it’s very slow today, as you can see.” 0:55
Downtown Belize City was a similar scene, with businesses reopening, but very few people filling the streets. Alejandra Ukan, a resident of Belize District, felt it safer to stay at home until the all-clear was given.
Alejandra Ukan
Alejandra Ukan, Belize District Resident
“ Well, I prepare just because I afraid for the flood. But otherwise, I stay right in my house. I got my cement house, right?”
Britney Gordon
“And you feel that this was the right move to make, being that we didn’t get any sorts of rain or flooding in Belize City?”
Alejandra Ukan
“Only yesterday we get wah hard rain. It frightened people.”
To the relief of many, Hurricane Beryl passed with minimal impact on Belize. However, the storm rerouting to another country or gaining strength as it neared, remained a possibility until officials declared otherwise. Stanley Lizama, a resident of Belize City, has no regrets about preparing for the storm.
Stanley Lizama
Stanley Lizama, Belize District Resident
“My preparation was not hard because I am somebody old in the army. So I know exactly what to do. I go close up some of my windows, buy up some groceries, and that was it.”
Britney Gordon
“And do you think this was the right choice to make, given the outcome?”
Stanley Lizama
“I think it’s the right choice and what I find out with this storm, Belize people do everything that they supposed to do. Cause the last hurricane, give us a wake up call.”
Britney Gordon
“So you think this was a better safe than sorry type situation?”
Stanley Lizama
“Definite. Definite.”
With one hurricane avoided, the season is not yet over. Morrison says that he continues to proceed with caution until the season comes to an end.
Owen Morrison
“We always have to be prepared, because we have to expect the unexpected. You could never tell how the weather would have shifted, when it would have shifted, because I heard a story from the older folks that when Hattie was about to hit Belize, it shift. They said it was going to Cuba, but then it end up shift and came to Belize. We always have to be prepared, you understand? It was something sensible to do.”
After days of preparation, Belize was spared from the impact of Hurricane Beryl as it bypassed the country on its path through the Yucatan Peninsula. The hurricane made landfall in Mexico, as a category two storm, however, it began as a category five, and was the first ever to be recorded in the month of June. On Monday, Beryl ripped through the southeast Caribbean, devastating islands such as Saint Vincent, Grenada, and Jamaica. In a message from the Secretary General, Doctor Carla Banett explained that CARICOM member states have come together and are providing urgent support to each other as they seek to recover. On Thursday, CARICOM celebrated the fifty-first anniversary of its formation. This year’s commemoration underlined the community’s desire for continued partnerships and willingness to assist in times of need. Doctor Barnett further stressed the importance of keeping to climate change commitments as the early formation and intensity of Beryl indicate the warming of the sea’s impacts on the region. Barnett concluded by reiterating the community’s objective, stating, “together, we will build on the gains of regional integration, address the challenges of recovery and sustainable economic growth and development, and shape an inclusive, resilient and thriving Community for all.”
Hurricane Beryl was a powerful storm that would have likely destroyed the most vulnerable homes in San Pedro. Most of these structures are built in low-lying swamps by squatters. And today, Mayor Wally Nunez told News Five that Hurricane Beryl has brought into sharp focus a perennial issue on the island. He reiterated that not only is building shacks in the mangroves a hazard, but it is illegal.
Wally Nunez, Mayor, San Pedro
“That is something that we will have to look closely with the government to see how we can assist these people and probably relocate them in another area. But that is an ongoing process that we can’t just do overnight. We know that there’s a couple of them that have been going up in the mangrove areas that our building unit has been addressing. We actually had to put a stop to some of them and advising these people that they are squatting on places that are not their property, that they do not own, and we cannot allow it because we cannot allow for them to go and build on a mangrove. It is illegal.”
But there’s a plan to deal with those persons who live in San Pedro who don’t have a piece of land but need housing. Area Representative Andre Perez told News Five that there’s a housing project that he is overseeing that will materialize within the next few months. Perez says that the new subdivision is more than a hundred acres of land.
Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South
“In the past administration, lands were given out in a place that is just jungle. And people still cannot move there yet because there are no roads over there. So again, to do this, we want to give land to people whenever we find it and we’re getting it and we’ll get, however, we have to do it properly and we can’t come and say, well, you know, you have to pay me some money fi mek I survey it – we can’t do it. I’m working on a plan right now as the area rep. It’s going to be up north and I can tell you that I’m aggressively pushing for it. Very soon I’ll be getting a parcel to subdivide, but when I’m doing it, I am subdividing it, I am surveying it and it’s gonna come to the cost because you know, getting land here, of course, you have to pay the government for a piece of property. But what I’m doing is to, right now, finding resources to survey and subdivide. And when that comes, I will work also on putting in the roads. So that when a person comes, I can quantify and say, listen, this is what the cost was for survey, for the roads, this is what I end up paying. So there’s a fee to divide among all those lands there for the person who is interested in that piece of land to pay that fee as well plus what they have to pay to government for the property. So it’s also not only just giving a piece of land. We have to make sure whenever they get the land they can move in and start building their homes that they would want to build.”
