Belizeans Evacuate Islands due to Approaching Storm

As Hurricane Beryl approaches mainland, San Pedranos and other residents from Caye Caulker who anticipate heavy wind and rainfall are seeking shelter elsewhere with family and friends in various districts. We spoke with Chief Transport Officer Leon Gentle to find out how many people are currently evacuating and what are the operation plans for the Transport Department when faced with an emergency.

 

Leon Gentle, Deputy Chair, Transport and Evacuation

“As you may know as a part of our constitution, it’s we’re not forcing anybody to evacuate. So at this point, we’re currently working on voluntary evacuation efforts. What I can tell you is that the San Pedro Coordinator, Miss Vanessa Parham who works closely with the islands are currently in the process of ensuring that as much persons who are willing to evacuate are doing so now it the numbers that we’ve received so far from San Pedro and Caye Caulker is somewhere around one thousand three hundred persons from Caye Caulker and one thousand two hundred persons from San Pedro. And that’s through one of the companies, the San Pedro Belize Express, who we do have an MOU with when it comes to these types of situations where we are asking persons to voluntarily evacuate. We also have that same agreement with the Caribbean Sprinter and those persons who provide that service for the cayes. And so Caribbean Sprinters so far has evacuated around three hundred and eighty-four passengers and two Corozal, they both Thunderbolt has evacuated ninety-six. As of today, one hundred two persons were evacuated as of three p.m. today. So the island and the town council along with the NEMO coordinator there have been working diligently with the Transport and Evacuation Committee to provide that service for lesions or persons. Out there on the keys. What I can also note is that the Coast Guard has been moving around in the smaller islands to provide information for persons who may not have the technology that provides that information for them. And so thanks to the Coast Guard, thanks to the boat companies to provide that support for us through the Transport and Evacuation Committee of NEMO.”