Yesterday we showed you the over-flight of the inundated Cayo District. And while it all looked like a big brown wash from above - on the ground it's been daily hell in low lying riverside communities like Calla Creek. That community and Cristo Rey were left stranded when their roads washed away during the rain that the outer bands of Hurricane Julia flung on Belize.
That's why the Ministry of Infrastructure Development has been scrambling to get the roads operational as the water recedes. Here's an update from the man in charge of works in the Cayo District:
Obidio Estrada, San Ignacio/Santa Elena, MIDH
"Part of the village from Calla Creek was disconnected from the rest of the country I would say for at least 3 days. We worked here late yesterday evening to try to bring back the road so that people could pass. The areas on this section of the district, especially the Calla Creek area - we are on the road from Bullet Tree to Calla Creek right now, this is an area that the flood washed out the existing culvert in this area. So, we are working on this area at the moment trying to set back the culverts. As you can see, we had a smaller one before, now we are putting a double Culvert, the 5 feet culverts that would help for the future for floods so that they don't have this problem again. The one on Cristo Rey road we have a farm road there that is the same thing, the road was washed like this one, the culvert was washed out and we are working on that section as well at the moment."
Estrada says the infrastructure damages in the district are already in the millions of dollars. He adds that village leaders are clamoring for repairs on their roads - and his team will get there as soon as it can.
