The National Emergency Management Organization is tonight on full alert and making preparations in the event that flooding in the Corozal and Orange Walk Districts worsen.
As we reported last night,the waters in the Orange walk and Corozal districts are rising as a result of cresting rivers and consistent rains throughout the region.
Today, The meteorological service advised that the water levels in the Rio Hondo continue to rise slowly at Blue Creek, Douglas, San Antonio and San Roman. The New River is also rising and now NEMO staffers in Corozal and Orange walk are on full alert, monitoring the situation and getting ready to act if the need arises. We today spoke via telephone with NEMO district coordinator Netty Johnston who says that an evacuation order in Orange walk has not been ordered but there some persons are seeking higher ground.
Netty Johnston, NEMO District Coordinator
"We are not having a mass evacuation yet. We are prepared to help people and we are preparing to help if the need arises.
We know that the rivers are rising, they are rising steadily but we do not have a mass evacuation of people. We do have a few families that have evacuated, they have done so by themselves because they are fearful that the water might come into their homes through the night. And we have about five of those families throughout the Orange Walk district. But we not have mass evacuations.
The rising water is attributed because as you know the water form Mexico along that area, they drain down into the Rio Hondo so that is what is causing extra floods in Rio Hondo.
We are asking people to have a family emergency plan, to know which family member they need to go to, to have some food, to have water, to be ready if they have to move. If they have all of these things together, then they will be able to respond.
So we are on standby and we are going to respond, and we are responding as the need arises.
The met forecasts that rains will continue for the next 24 to 48 hours particularly in northern Belize, subsiding by Saturday afternoon.