This weekend, those of us in Central, Western and Northern Belize had to contend with intermittent downpours accompanied by some thunder and lightning, and that was pretty much it - but for residents of the South, it was more than just a few showers - it was a sign to get to higher ground. NEMO has been monitoring the rains in the South and had issued a flood warning yesterday afternoon. Shelters were also opened up in Hope Creek and Sarawee Villages. I traveled to those Stann Creek villages today but instead of seeing inundated streets, we saw dry land. The real damage was done in Toledo. Here's that story.
Courtney Weatherburne reporting
When it rains in the South, Sarawee Village is one of the first to flood.
Jene Mclaughlyn, Resident
"The last flooding yes water was in my house and all about, everybody, the last time they had the how you call it? Soldier people come and try harass people, well try help people then in boats and thing."
Courtney Weatherburne
"It usually gets flooded like really bad?"
Jene Mclaughlyn, Resident
"Yes bad, bad the whole of this area all up to football field."
But this weekend, the villagers were spared - no one was flooded out. Although the river did rise significantly, it didn't spill over into the community as it usually does.
Keith Emmanuel, Southern Regional Coordinator, NEMO
"Well early Saturday night or early Saturday morning we had some immense extreme heavy rains in the district and it especially affected the source of North Stann Creek river and the communities there, there are two vulnerable communities along the North Stann Creek river when it comes to flooding, they are Sarawee and Hope Creek and at about 10, I received notice from our river monitors at mile 20 that we were having the North Stann Creek started to flood and within a couple of hours it had gone from normal to basically 15 feet above normal in that area."
"Fortunately for us, the river crested just before it breaks the banks at both places up until around 8:00 or 9:00 the river was still rising and just a little after 10:00 last light the river crested and that was a good thing for us because we didn't have to have people going into shelters, people did not have to actually move their stuff so their homes and their farms were not impacted by that flood so we are very fortunate yesterday with that flood in this district at least right."
Courtney Weatherburne
"As you said, the water did rise and so how do you explain it that they really got away this time?"
Keith Emmanuel, Southern Regional Coordinator, NEMO
"Well I think it is because, and I don't like to assume right but looking at history, because this is the first flood for the year and so maybe we had areas, low lying areas which the water was running off into that had not actually been filled or affected by previous rains so there were areas where there were better run off."
Courtney Weatherburne
"I am sure you guys are grateful and happy that you didn't have to deal with that this weekend?"
Jene Mclaughlyn, Resident
"Well sure I wouldn't want it come because a lot of things would get damage again."
But communities in the Toledo District like Crique Sarco and Big Falls were not so fortunate. About 8 families were flooded out.
Keith Emmanuel, Southern Regional Coordinator, NEMO
"We note that the community that was most impacted by the rains in Toledo yesterday is Crique Sarco because going into last night we still had 8 families that had to be evacuated from their homes, fortunately the water went down and they have returned to their homes but we have not been able to get into Crique Sarco because of the water on the road going there this morning it was reported to me that there is as much as 10 feet of water on the section of the road there, so we will probably get into there sometime this evening or early tomorrow morning."
And while the rivers have receded, and residents are doing all they can to recover from the rains and keep safe, NEMO officials still need to monitor the weather especially in Punta Gorda - because there will be more rain.
Keith Emmanuel, Southern Regional Coordinator, NEMO
"We are still keeping an eye on PG because it looks like it wants to continue to rain in the mountains in PG and remember one of the things that does affect those rivers in PG is a lot of their source is in Guatemala."
NEMO officials are very concerned about the river in Big Falls, which is about 20 feet above normal. Toledo residents should stay vigilant and updated with the latest NEMO advisories. The number for the Southern Regional Coordinator for NEMO, Keith Emmanuel is 615 - 9711.
