Residents around the country sent us pictures and video footage of the flash floods that inundated their communities. Some parts of the major highways were also affected, including a portion of the Philip Goldson Highway, near mile 29 in Biscayne.
The current of flood waters erupted a culvert and caused the pavement to break away, leaving a massive pothole covering one lane completely. Personnel from the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing were quickly dispatched to begin remedial works.
In a Facebook post from this morning, the Ministry said quote, "One of our MIDH teams has been on the Philip Goldson Highway at Biscayne since early this morning working to repair this section which has given way. Motorists are asked to exercise extreme caution on this section of road." End quote.
Residents living in the flood-prone areas of Belize City were also impacted by the rains from the Tropical Wave, and some citizens woke up to ankle-deep - or knee-deep - water on the streets in front of their homes. The Council's City Emergency Management Organization also responded quickly and conducted a tour of the neighborhoods most affected by the floods. Shortly after midday, we got a chance to speak with the CEMO liaison officer about their assessment of the sudden flooding in the country's biggest urban center. Here's what she told us:
Melony Dawson - CEMO Liaison Officer
"From midnight up to around 10 o'clock this morning, we got an update from the Met Office, and they stated that we had gotten 7 inches of rain so far. We had our meeting, our planning meeting this morning, which consisted of the Mayor, the City Administrator, and our personnel from CEMO. With that, we then dispatched, and we did our assessments throughout the city: north side and south side. Some of the streets are inundated, but I can gladly say that from this morning and up to this afternoon, the water had receded very quickly, very, very quickly. As we know, in Belize, we are below sea level, and in some areas, we just have to basically wait until the water recedes on its own. There is not much that we can do as a Council to help some of these areas. But, as I mentioned, at the Council, we are doing the best that we can. Everyone is on the ground. The outlets are being opened. Drains have been cleaned. We have been on the ground working since yesterday. So, even in those areas, the water has been receding very quickly, as I mentioned. From the assessment being done, I would say it's a little bit more than moderate, [more] than what we would expect. But it's not as significant as we thought it would be with the number of inches [of rain] that came down."
The Chief Meteorologist told us today that according to their forecast, the worst of the bad weather caused by the Tropical wave has passed, and it is expected that the weather should improve significantly by tomorrow, going into the weekend.
