The San Pedro Town Council estimates that as many 9 thousand people fled the island beginning as early as Friday. And they did so with good reason. While Hurricane Dean wasn't expected to make a direct hit on San Pedro, tropical storm force winds were forecasted to bear down and they did last night. So while it wasn't as bad as Hurricane Keith it was still very bad. A 7NEWS team was on the first commercial flight out to the island this morning and Keith Swift has the story.
Keith Swift Reporting,
This is amateur video footage of Hurricane Dean's tropical storm force winds beating down on San Pedro early this morning. The footage was taken by Pamela Zetina who watched Dean's force unfold from her porch near the center of the island. Steve Vaughn also spent last night on the island.
Steve Vaughn, San Pedro Resident
"Big waves were coming in and a lot of debris was flying around. Nobody was on the street though, absolutely nobody. The transformer just exploded and stuff like that."
This is San Pedro after being bartered by Hurricane Dean for most of last night. A few billboards are down and tree limbs are everywhere but Mayor Elsa Paz and Belize Rural South Area Rep. Manuel Heredia say San Pedro is still standing.
Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr., Area Rep.
"What I believe that eventhough we felt a lot of breeze and rain and sea, I think that we were very fortunate that we didn't get any damage that we expected that that type of weather would cause."
Elsa Paz, Mayor
"I think San Pedro was okay. We didn't have any kind of big damages, none of the houses were down and you can notice, if you have been around, there were loose zincs from the roofs. So we are okay. It is more like a cleanup campaign that we have to have and I believe that by the end of this weekend, we will have San Pedro clean again."
That cleanup campaign started this afternoon as residents - many of them on their own initiative - began raking up leaves and other debris from the streets. And while this afternoon business houses also began taking down their shutters, San Pedro is far from back to normal. It is about 2 pm here and the entire island still doesn't have back electricity.
And while electricity is the concern in the center of town, the hardest hit area was here on the southern end. It is known as San Pedrito. There are no cobblestone streets here. This area has swamps and after last night's hurricane, it became a virtual lake. But more than dumping water, the storm's violent winds caused the Faith Bible Church, which was under construction, to collapse. Jose Lewis Quintanilla and Edison Whittey both live in San Pedrito and they chose to ride out the storm on the upper flat of this two storey concrete building.
Edison Whittey, San Pedrito Resident
"It started to rain and then water just started to raise and then we got a lot of breeze, enough breeze and you saw things flying around the place."
Jose Lewis Quintanilla, San Pedrito Resident
"The height of the water was like two feet. After 2 am we really got frightened but we were up there and we knew we were really safe."
Keith Swift,
Why did you decide to stay back here?
Jose Lewis Quintanilla,
"Well I mean we have our houses there, my friend owns a shop, and we decided to stay and take care of his business because a lot of crooks were going to come and try and thief stuff so we decided to stay here."
Keith Swift,
You're weren't concerned about your safety?
Jose Lewis Quintanilla,
"No, I mean right here we could take like an earthquake. I've always wanted to experience a hurricane but it didn't hit us the way it should have. We have little home back here and thank God nothing happened."
And while Whiittey and Quintanilla stayed on the island - as many as 9,000 people evacuated because of the approaching storm. Some of those residents began returning today but Mayor Elsa Paz says those residents shouldn't be in a rush to return home.
Elsa Paz,
"I would believe that they should try to come back by the weekend because we want to make sure that San Pedro is clean and right now we have electricity, we have water, we have to clean the island and they can start coming by the weekend."
Mayor Elsa Paz told us that the north of San Pedro received considerable damage from Hurricane Dean. Tropic Air and Maya Island Air resumed flying after midday. Regular service for water taxis will resume tomorrow morning.
