Those under the greatest threat for the hurricane and subsequent floods are Toledo residents. 7NEWS visited Toledo this morning, and found residents not fussing too much about the hurricane or its aftermath.
Jules Vasquez Reporting,
On Tuesday morning in this seaside town, the hurricane alert was lowered to red one and Punta Gorda was in a state of what can best be called relaxed readiness. The usually bustling downtown area was mostly abandoned. Townspeople tell us, it seemed to them like a Sunday. And while we did see shutters on some buildings, magisterial in some cases, makeshift zinc or plywood in others, many clearly didn't have enough plywood to cover every glass window and since plywood is scarce, residents had to use what they could find. Others didn't cover up at all. That is the case for Fausto Mendez.
Jules Vasquez,
So you are not afraid?
Fausto Mendez, Toledo Resident
"No I am not afraid, I will stay
here tonight. My daughter said my son called and asked why they didn't take me. I asked them why, don't we believe in God. I will stay here. It is not even much rain, the way it is."
Jules Vasquez,
You live pretty close to the sea, you haven't put up shutters or anything if it should come.
Fausto Mendez,
"Well I don't have windows. This house is too small, I don't have windows so I trust in the Good Lord."
Jules Vasquez,
Suppose it had come?
Fausto Mendez,
"Well if it came I would have gone because this is nothing, I can buy that back. That is almost rotten."
Jules Vasquez,
This town, Punta Gorda Town wasn't prepared for a category five storm, certainly not the villages.
Will Maheia, Toledo Resident
"Jules I think that God is on our side. I think God is on the people of Punta Gorda's side because if a category three hurricane comes to Toledo, we would not be prepared."
Jules Vasquez,
We haven't had a major storm, we had Iris but that mostly hit southern Stann Creek and to some extent the northern part of Toledo, but we haven't had a serious storm in this town for example in decades. Do you think that perhaps people have been sort of taking things for granted and living on easy street?
Will Maheia,
"Including myself, I am guilty of taking things for granted because until yesterday afternoon when we got the news, then myself and my friends began to board up houses and help out the communities because traditionally, really because we have been spared so many times, we have been taking things for granted."
This hotel in downtown Punta Gorda found another way to secure some fancy looking light fixtures. But we didn't find much of the same in the villages surrounding Punta Gorda Town. Here in Eldridge Ville, we had to search for the home that was secured. Sherwyn Parham says her family was ready for the worse.
Sherwyn Parham, Eldridge Ville Resident
"My family and I, we got prepared from Saturday. We were prepared
for Saturday and then we started nailing the boards and things like that yesterday so we kind of were prepared. We got our water and everything."
And while that family was ready in Eldridge, in Jacintoville, just down the road, Winston Young had a plan, that didn't include shutters.
Jules Vasquez,
I don't see that your house looks like it is shuttered down or so.
Winston Young, Jacintoville Resident
"Well because of the experience of the last one we had and its really good to listen to your radio."
Jules Vasquez,
So what was your hurricane plan?
Winston Young,
"Well my hurricane plan, right now I
have three little house and that is the one I was supposed to past in and I kind of secured that one. You can't secure everything you have so have to secure the main one."
Jules Vasquez,
So you are confident that that house would have stood, even the roof, if it would get, because it was predicted to be maybe a category five storm and then they said category four, and then eventually category one. You are convinced that that roof would have withstood it?
Winston Young,
"No I wasn't convinced that it would have took it but I said today we would know the latest of it and then we will decide what we were going to do."
Jules Vasquez,
So if necessary, you were prepared to go to a shelter?
Winston Young,
"Yes, that's right."
These silos at the dump have been like this since Iris. The Forestry Office, just up from the dump was fully shuttered down and the employees say it will be that way until November. In San Felipe, off the main highway, first Alcalde Gallo Menjangre lives in a thatch home and he says he and his villagers do have reason for concern.
Jules Vasquez,
Are you afraid of the rain, are you afraid of flooding? What are you afraid of right now?
Gallo Menjangre, Alcalde - San Felipe
"Okay for right now it is my people coming to me and saying they are afraid of it because our homes are not so healthy. You can see they are thatch houses and we got some people here that are really afraid of it so I said yes, we are afraid of it because maybe it will cause so much rain and damaging our houses."
Jules Vasquez,
We see the clouds over there on the horizon, you find that threatening?
Gallo Menjangre,
"To me that is it because when I hear the news, yes it is true that it is going to threaten our Toledo. In the past rains which I experienced, we got the junction about three miles from here, there is what we call Jacinto Creek and that was flooded and that stopped us from going to PG or this place going to Barranco side, like Santa Ana, yes, that will give us a lot of problems over there."
And those concerns are very much on the mind of the District Emergency Management Office and community leaders.
Jeromey Augustine, Local NEMO Coordinator
"Our major concern right now is flooding. We are preparing ourselves to face whatever floods we might be faced with. We have people out there right now on the ground doing spot checks, checking the low lying areas, encouraging people to evacuate from the low lying areas, especially people that live along the river banks."
Jules Vasquez,
Which areas are the most vulnerable?
Jeromey Augustine,
"We are looking at something like Jordan, Dolores, Rum Creek, Blue Creek, Santa Ana, San Miguel, and Colombia, and Crico Sarco."
Jules Vasquez,
How soon do you all anticipate or do the forecasters anticipate will floodwaters start to affect those communities?
Jeromey Augustine,
"At least by Thursday. Community members are very responsible now, they've been through trainings. They take the threat very seriously, it is not like in the past when people used to just don't worry about hurricanes or whatever. This time I must say that they are taking it seriously and making whatever preparations they need."
Will Maheia,
"I believe that the area that will be flooded will be the Indianville Area because traditionally the drainage in that area is very poor and probably in the Hopeville Area. Punta Gorda proper I think will not be flooded because it is about twelve to fifteen feet above sea level. In the villages, especially Midway, in fact I was just in Midway a couple days ago, and from the torrential rains we had a few days ago, you could see the impact of the rains. Midway is one of those villages that maybe is line with sea level or a little bit above sea level. That is the village before you get to Barranco so that village has to be very watchful of what is going on."
Jules Vasquez,
What is your greatest concern for the days ahead?
Greg Choq, SATIIM
"It has to be the flooding, particularly the communities south of
the Moho River, considering that the hurricane is drifting into Honduras and northern Guatemala and also considering that the majority of the rivers from Rio Grande, Temash, and the Sarstoon originate inside Guatemala. If there is torrential rain as it is predicted, as a result of the hurricane, certainly majority of the community may be cut off from each other and including cut off from Punta Gorda and how quickly these water recede will determine how difficult it will be for communities in terms of what they have; rations and food supplies in these communities and I think we still can use the waterways to access the communities but you know when there is a lot of flood, there is also a lot of logs flowing which could also be very dangerous for anybody who wants to access the community via the rivers during those times.
Health issues are also going to be a big big factor because most of the rivers originate in Guatemala and our studies have shown that they are very contaminated with sometimes ecoli bacteria and many other disease causing organism and I think communities using the rivers for bathing, washing, and certainly it could become a problem."
And while there are concerns for the days ahead, starting probably on Thursday, there is indeed a sense of actual relief, perhaps because enunciated by Linda Gomez. We found her and her family taking shelter from quite what, they weren't so sure.
Jules Vasquez,
You're coming here for shelter why?
Linda Gomez, Toledo Resident
"Because my farm is too far."
Jules Vasquez,
Are you afraid of the hurricane?
Linda Gomez,
"I am not afraid because I am sure God is taking care of my family so I am not afraid."
Jules Vasquez,
Are you afraid of the flood or the hurricane?
Linda Gomez,
"I am not afraid of the flood. I am afraid of the house breaking down."
Jules Vasquez,
Do you know that the hurricane its in Nicaragua and Honduras and will not come to Belize?
Linda Gomez,
"Really? Thank God."
According to local meteorologist Ramon Frutos, they are already seeing major feeder bands from Hurricane Felix across southern Belize. He says rainfall from the outer bands will begin tonight and continue into tomorrow. He adds that it may produce as much as 3 to 6 inches of rain in Toledo and the southern Stann Creek District. The tropical storm watch is expected to be lifted tomorrow.
