For the past 2 weeks, 7News have been telling you about the millions of dollars in damages that the rains and flooding have caused to the country's roads, infrastructure and agriculture. Well, sitting in the shadow of all of that rebuilding are the 200 families from the Belize River Valley and the Cayo District whose homes and possessions have been destroyed by the flooding.
Nemo and the Belize Red Cross have been working to try to help those persons affected, but they still need the help of the public to fund the effort. Today, 7News spoke with one of the field officers from the Belize Red Cross, and she told us that even though this flooding is not considered a nationwide disaster, these families still need help:
Jesse Young, Field Officer - Belize Red Cross
"From being on the ground what we saw out when we did our assessment, there are many families who have to leave their homes in Crooked Tree because of the flooding. There are like 33 families who are in shelters or staying with families somewhere. We still consider that to be a shelter. There are people in Grace Bank, Maypen and in Flowers Bank who are actually cut off because their only access road is flooded out, so there is no way for them to get out to get to work or anything like that. We have been assisting them in areas of food, clothing, and hygiene kits and so on."
"In San Ignacio, the situation is much worse because the flash flood came in wee hours of the morning (like a thief in the night), and those people lost everything. There are like 55 families in San Ignacio that lost all their household equipment and clothing. There is nowhere for them to sleep - their mattresses, school books, everything - it's just so devastating for them."
"You can see the despair in their eyes, it's close to Christmas. We will be having a Christmas, but they won't. So, I have asked the public out there to if they can bake a Christmas cake, bake an extra one, a pint of lemonade or whatever they can give to please bring it to the Belize Red Cross at #1 Gabourel Lane and we will get it to these people to help them make their Christmas a special day."
"It has been very slow. SMART has launched an appeal and so people who called in can give a donation from their credit that they have. Other donations from the public are very slow in coming in and so I want to use this medium to ask them to please help their brothers and sisters. Bring whatever you can, if it's a can food, if it's a dollar - it can make a big difference in somebody's life out there. Please give a donation and you can bring it to the Belize Red Cross at #1 Gabourel Lane."
Any monetary donation for the families can be sent to the Red Cross First Caribbean International Bank number, 1082665.
