TS Sara to Dump Heavy Rains Over Belize

One thing is for sure—Belize is in for some heavy rainfall. Projections for Tropical Storm Sara suggest that the country could see up to ten inches of rain over the next three days. Chief Hydrologist Tenielle Hendy has issued flood warnings for four rivers across the country. Areas already dealing with floods, like San Roman and San Antonio, are likely to face even greater flood threats. Hendy shared more details with us.

 

Tenielle Hendy, Chief Hydrologist

“We do have a flood warning still in effect for the Mopan, Macal, Rio Hon and Belize Rivers. Some of the roads in the north are still impassable. In region seven, even though it is at flood stage levels, it is decreasing at the moment. In region nine we have the Mopan and Belize rivers still at flood stage and the three dam facilities, the spillways are still active. A departure from the forecast yesterday is that we are now seeing the Sibun River exhibiting or reflecting increasing above normal levels. Looking ahead into the outlook, for our stream flow. We are noticing this stream as per this flood forecast. It is just showing above level conditions. But this will change with the introduction of the rainfall. Moving into what is expected based on the current time step of TD. With the estimated accumulation of ten inches of rainfall over a five-day period, what we can expect that we will be seeing is flooding in those areas that will be affected, the areas that are already flooded. If you receive additional rainfall, we can see the extent widening in these areas and when it cannot spread out anymore, the extent it will go deeper.”