There were heavy rains in western Belize last night and tonight there are three significant pieces of news because of those rains. First, this evening at 5:20, two bodies were seen floating down the Mopan River at Succotz Village. The river is flooded, and the bodies continued to float downstream towards Bullet Tree Falls. The District Emergency Office in Cayo confirms that the bodies are those of a child and an adult female.
Two search teams from the Cayo District Emergency Management Organization are at this hour scouring the river for the bodies. One team is searching in the Calla Creek area and another in the Bullet Tree area. Not much is known other than it is believed the bodies are of Guatemalans who were in a canoe which capsized near Arenal.
Cayo DEMO’s Information Officer Pablo Chan this evening renewed warnings for those living near rivers to desist from attempting to cross. We’ll have more information on that story as it becomes available.
But first back to Succotz where the Mopan River started to rise again today. This is believed to be as a result of heavy rains overnight in the Peten region. As you may recall the Mopan River in Succotz rose to unprecedented highs over the weekend – and had all but subsided – leaving about 12 inches of water on the road. But since 2:00 pm, it has risen three inches and use of the highway has been restricted to those Benquenos headed home from all points east of San Ignacio –as long as their vehicles are sufficiently high.
