At six pm –9 hurricane shelters in Belize City were opened. We’ll list the shelters in a moment but first we’ll hear from City Mayor Zenaida Moya. She told us this afternoon that they are opening the shelters only as a precautionary measure.
Zenaida Moya, Mayor of Belize City
“People can rest assure that as of six o’clock they will be able to go to shelters. The shelters will be opened to accommodate them. At this time it is voluntary evacuation. Tomorrow morning at 9 am, if the hurricane seems that it will make landfall on Belize, and in particular Belize City with category three, four, or five winds then - and only then – a state of emergency will be declared and the mandatory evacuation will start taking place. Again this is not frighten people. It is simply to inform them and let them know that they need to stay tuned to their local radios or television and monitor the hurricane.”
The nine shelters are Queen’s Square Anglican School, St. Michael’s College, St. John’s Vianney, Salvation Army, St. Martin’s Primary School, St. Luke’s Methodist School, Pallotti High School, All Saints’ Primary School, and Trinity Methodist School. That’s nine shelters but a NEMO release only certifies 5 as being able to withstand winds of a category three storm or stronger. A NEMO release expresses concerns about Trinity Methodist School and Grace Primary School. If you plan to stay in a shelter, Moya says you can register so a spot can be reserved for you if the storm changes direction. If it does, Mayor Moya says there will be mandatory evacuation and an estimated fifty thousand people will need to leave the city.
