And while food distribution is a concern, for those in shelters, NEMO today told the press it has it under control. 5 ground and 3 aerial teams spent most of today doing assessments – some of it house to house - as they tried to put a dollar amount on Hurricane Dean’s destruction. That figure isn’t available yet but it should be by tomorrow. At a press conference this afternoon at NEMO headquarters in Belmopan, Chairman of the Damage Assessment Committee Allan Usher says lampposts were toppled, trees were uprooted, and homes were destroyed – and the only good news in all that says Usher is that the damage to the macro-infrastructure was minimal.
Allan Usher, Chairman – Damage Assessment Committee
“The macro-infrastructure is largely untouched. The major highways, little bit of flooding; bridges, hardly any damage; but most of the damage was inflicted on the population. A high number of homes in the villages in Orange Walk and Corozal Districts as well as a few in San Pedro.
So a lot of damage to people’s homes, a lot of damage to subsistence crops, and to the feeder and farm roads, for people to access those crops, as well as to certain parts of the productive sector. As yet unascertained is the damage to the sugar cane industry, there’s been uprooting of some of the plants. Almost all the papaya production is lost and as yet unspecified and in response to a question from over there, we still don’t know the damage to the grain crops.”