But we begin in the river valley where 6,000 persons in 20 villages have been affected. Crooked Tree, Lemonal, and Maypen Villages are now all accessible only by boat because they are surrounded by water which is showing little or no sign of receding.
Keith Swift Reporting,
These images from a boat tour yesterday by Area Representative Edmund Castro show most of the river valley still under water. Roads and bridges still aren’t visible, just water – which many homes are either in or around. In fact for some homes – the roofs are barely visible. That’s why Kay Young and her two young daughters still can’t return home.
Kaye Young, Rancho Dolores Resident
“The water is by the teachers’ house, the house is surrounded
by water and that caused me to evacuate from that area.”
Fortunato Noble,
I see you have two children in your hands are these your children?
Kaye Young,
“Yes. It is kind of stressful at times because to deal with them, they are not in their own environment so they find it very stressful for themselves.”
These are images from Lemonal. Chairlady Olive Banner says where you see water now, a cricket field was.
Olive Banner, Chairlady – Lemonal
“This was the ball field, cricket field and it is under water. The center is under water, the school is under water, the church is under water.”
Fortunato Noble,
How inconvenient is it for you to be out of your home?
Olive Banner,
“Very inconvenienced because you know when you’re not in your own house you feel a little bit out of the ordinary.”
Fortunato Noble,
You seem happy Miss.
Olive Banner,
“I have to be happy because it is God’s work. We can’t do anything so we have to make the best of it. The whole village is affected by this. The ones that had to evacuate and the ones that are in their own houses.”
The rising waters have displaced a significant amount of the river valley’s
livestock. Farmers have to evacuate their livestock from flooded areas via boat. With their legs tied, the animals are then placed in the back of trucks where they are untied and transported to higher ground. It sounds easy but this evacuation yesterday showed it isn’t.
But it is the villagers most in need of help. This woman walked through water to her knee – and the only access by others is small boats like this canoe. It’s a situation keeping Miss Dominguez from going to work.
Miss Dominguez,
“This water is affecting me personally because I have a job at Traveler’s Limited where I have to go and right now I can’t go to my job because of the flood. I am very scared to leave my kids at home, I am afraid they drown in the water.”
Fortunato Noble,
How hard is the water around your house?
Miss Dominguez,
“The water is about one feet high right now, coming up around the house. The house is about two blocks high.”
Fortunato Noble,
You are surrounded by water?
Miss Dominguez,
“Yes but it hasn’t gotten into the house as yet. Hopefully maybe in next day and a half. Right now all I need is food and I have some food right now in the house but I don’t know for how long.”
Area Representative Edmund Castro says 6,000 people in 20 villages have been
affected in his division.
Hon. Edmund Castro, Area Representative – Belize Rural North
“Currently we have in excess of 5,000 to 6,000 people in the Belize Rural North Area that have been affected. In some instance entire communities are under water, the entire crops are affected, destroyed; corn, rice, beans, tomatoes, sweet pepper, okra, cassava, cocoa, plantain – all the crops in Belize Rural North basically are under water and had been destroyed. We also have problems with our livestock at this point.
We have twenty odd villages that are completely affected by this flood. We have villages such as Bomba, the only access for people to get to or from Bomba is by boat. We have villages like Crooked Tree that are completely cut off from the rest of the country. The only way we could get there is by boat and the island of Crooked Tree itself is also divided into about three different sections. We have the areas like Maypen, completely under water. We have areas like Grace Bank, Davis Bank – those areas are completely under water. Flowers Bank is cut off from the rest of the country, the only way you can reach there is primarily by boat.
We have experienced about two feet water in the Mosul Creek area and we also have it now affecting places like Scotland. Scotland is in trouble. We have areas such as the Bamboo Patch in Isabella area that is under water. We have areas in Lemonal that are completely accessible by boat only. We have areas in Rancho Dolores, the only way you can get to Rancho Dolores is by boat only as well.”
And while for this fisherman there is an upside, for Calvin Swasey there’s none.
Calvin Swasey, Lemonal resident
“To be honest with you I am not sure, just the water keeps coming up and the mahogany trees, the plum trees, everything is under water. It is really difficult because I’ve been in water all morning and up to now still in water. Right now we need assistance with everything because we will need clean water, we will need feed, we will need food, we will need a lot of stuff.”
