In our last segment, we showed you what the situation in Douglas and San Roman Villages in the Orange Walk District. These are 2 of 4 villages currently on alert because the Rio Hondo is flooded, and has spilled waters into these villages.
Today, our News team went back to the Orange Walk District, where they discovered that it is quite a task to get into – and out of – San Antonio. Here's what they found:
Daniel Ortiz Reporting
The San Antonio Village, one of the Albion Islands, has been cut off from normal means of transportation for 23 days now.
Isela Wade - Chairlady, San Antonio Village
"We noticed that one September 3, we had some water crossing on both sides of the road. Eventually, it started to pass. After that, small vehicles like Toyota's it became difficult for them, cars, the drivers didn't want to take the risk of crossing. Since then, it's been rising every day."
Alfredo Guemez - Resident, San Antonio Village
"It's not easy; it's tough, people like students, they need to get out every morning, and people who work outside the village, they have to do whatever they can."
The village itself isn't flooded, but the swollen Rio Hondo has spilled water on to about half a mile of the main road.
As a result, those commuters to and from the village must use 3 different vehicles to get pass the flood. This emergency transport had been arranged by NEMO.
Alfredo Guemez
"As you can see, it's a little bit hectic. You have come on the boats to this side, then the tractor come to this side. They get on the tractor, and then go down to the bus, which takes them away from here. I guess the first days are the worst, after couple days, people get used to it, and just stick with the flow." To get into the village, the residents arrive by bus, simple enough, but there is point at which they must get off. They then have to get on to a tractor.
Tony Espejo - Operating The Tractor
"The bus bring them to side, we take them from there, and the boats take over. It's 2 boats running this side here, and 1 tractor. San Antonio is very affected by water."
The tractor takes them to the the boats, which the transports them across the deepest parts of the flood.
Elio Avila - Boat Driver
"We usually start off at about 4:30 in the morning, and we go home at 7 or 7:30. We wait for the last bus, which is 7 o'clock, and then we start heading home. We get home at around 9 in the night."
We opted to prove that that what you're looking at is actually a road and not part of a river.
Daniel Ortiz
"I've only walked a few yards away from the drop-off point, and already, I'm in waist-deep water. The residents are reporting that should I attempt to go further, it could probably go as high as my shoulders."
Instead of attempting to wade through the water to the other side, we took the advice of the residents and caught a boat.
But at some point during the ride, we decided to test how deep the water was - in the interest of accuracy, of course...
So, while our test for depth trivialized the issue some what, for the residents of San Antonio, it's no laughing matter:
Elio Avila
"It's a little bit tiring, but at the end of the day, we're willing to help out the people come through this. It's a little bit tiring for us, but we're doing our best to try to take out everybody who needs to get to work, especially the students at morning, who need to get to school. They start off early, and for most of them, they have to actually get into the water, it's a little bit hard for them."
But what caused all this flooding? Well, according to residents, there are lagoons and savannas on both sides of the road, and when the water rises, it simply sits there for weeks on end.
Daniel Ortiz
"How long does it take? I understand that this happens like once every 5 years or so. How long does it take for all this water to recede to the point where vehicles can travel again?"
Isela Wade
"It would take a month to 2 months."
We were unable to get to Santa Cruz because our vehicle couldn't get pass San Antonio, which connects to that village. NEMO continues to monitor the situation.
