And zeroing in on the west, two years ago, Cayo suffered major flooding after Hurricanes Eta and Iota hit the Central American region. And this past weekend, it was almost like deja vu - so much so, that the residents were worried their homes and businesses would end up submerged.
Thankfully, this time around, it wasn't nearly as traumatic, but those in the low lying areas of Cayo still had to contend with rising and rushing flood waters.
Courtney Menzies travelled west today to find residents sweeping up the debris with a weary resignation. Here's that story.
As Hurricane Julia washed over Central American countries like Nicaragua and El Salvador, its rains drenched Belize as well. And though the country didn't take a direct hit, those rains were enough for the streets of Cayo's towns and villages to turn into rivers.
Earl Trapp, Mayor, San Ignacio/Santa Elena
"We were monitoring first thing yesterday morning, we came out again and we monitored the water levels but it was just below the low-lying bridge and within 2 hours from that, it was already moving all the way up beyond the bridge and moving much more than we had anticipated."
"Immediately we began to advise the market vendors that they need to begin packing and evacuate because it's anticipated that water levels will reach beyond the market area so it was good that everyone complied and they began packing up. By, I would say, 1 o'clock, water was already in the market area."
"NEMO's personnel were out working the different area, monitoring the water levels and closing off streets that were inundated, for example we had the, once the water level reaches below the low-lying bridge here, it means that the water level is already flowing over the low-lying bridge by Iguana Creek. Then we had another area by Cristo Rey, another bridge that was inundated, we had the entrance to Succotz that was inundated, the entrance to Benque and the bridge, or the creek, the culvert, at the end of Bullet Tree Village, the start of Santa Familia, that was inundated as well."
And further west, it only got worse. Water rushed into homes in villages like San Jose Succotz, Bullet Tree Falls, and in Benque Viejo Town. The rising flood waters forced the residents to act quick to protect their belongings, and hope that they wouldn't need rescuing. And the water's current dragged debris into their yards and fences.
It was a frightening experience for these village and town residents, but in the end, no lives were lost, and most of them spent today cleaning out their businesses and homes.
Kenneth Arth, Tour Operator, San Jose Succotz
"Yesterday afternoon it came up to the bottom of the foundation here and then about two hours later it just started coming right into the office but I managed to get everything out of here and overnight, everything went down again but I noticed this afternoon that it's coming back up and it's up about six inches now. So I'm not moving anything back in yet till perhaps tomorrow because I think all the water is coming from Guatemala."
Courtney Menzies:
"But you didn't sustain any major damages to any of your equipment?"
Kenneth Arth, Tour Operator, San Jose Succotz
"No, I had about six inches of water in my office but I managed to get everything out before the water got into the office but it came up very fast this time."
Courtney Menzies:
"And when you hear of storms coming do you anticipate floods all the time?"
Kenneth Arth, Tour Operator, San Jose Succotz
"I do now, I've been through, this would be my third one, so I do anticipate it and I heed it, in other words, I start moving my things out."
Shamira Usher, Resident, Benque
"When the flood started to come into my house, I was frightened because I thought we would have to call NEMO again like last year, because last year as worse, but now, it calmed down after a while because they had already cleaned up the dam, so it went down fast. Last year, it was a lot of mosquitos and everything like, we had to suffer a lot. And this year, well, at least God blessed us because it gone fast, the water, and there were no mosquitos and so."
"I was trying to save myself, because it's a big loss, you know, TV and everything, we had to put it up on a high level because if we put it like there, it would have been messed up, we had to take out everything, fix it."
Courtney Menzies:
"What are some of the stuff that got damaged?"
Shamira Usher, Resident, Benque
"Our clothes, everything, our clothes, machines, things that we use."
Courtney Menzies:
"Like your washing machine?"
Shamira Usher, Resident, Benque
"Yes… TV's. Today we're trying to clean and trying to find back our stuff because it's a big loss."
Anibal Gomez, Resident, Benque
"Yesterday what I saw was that the water was going very high, and quick, in minutes the water started to get into my yard so I was very afraid because we have to remove things, our stuff from in the house to the other house and I was very afraid of that."
"Yesterday was very serious, the water was going fast."
Courtney Menzies:
"So that was the first time you saw flood waters like that?"
Anibal Gomez, Resident, Benque
"No, this is the third time, but this time it was going faster, more flood, the water is going higher."
Miguel Martinez, Resident, Benque
"Today we decided to cook some food for them and we cannot give to everywhere but at least a two or three per residence."
Courtney Menzies:
"And the amount of flood you saw yesterday, is that something you normally see?"
Miguel Martinez, Resident, Benque
"No, not really. Honestly, no."
Courtney Menzies:
"And when you saw that car underwater, what went through your mind?"
Miguel Martinez, Resident, Benque
"Well, we tried to call the owner but to no avail because the owner is supposed to be working in Belize City."
But by this morning, the flood waters in the west had mostly receded, though the rivers still remained high - halfway up trees near the bank - and rushing with deadly speeds - keeping residents wary but ready.
