As we saw, the Cayo District was the most affected by flash floods, but as viewers are aware, all those flood waters will eventually make its way to the Belize District to the usual flood catchment areas.
Here's the NEMO Coordinator's warning of eventual flooding that will most likely affect the Belize River Valley, and other flood-prone areas of the Belize District:
Colonel Shelton Defour - NEMO Coordinator
"We are bracing for potentially a significant flood event in the Belize River Valley area, the water is cresting in the Belize River in the Cayo District. It's moving downhill at a rapid paste and so with the inundation where the ground was already saturated in those areas due to pooling and accumulation of water. It means now that you have this second wave of flood waters that will reach into places like Crooked Tree. They are already experiencing flooding; a family is being affected and so far, they have decided not to move as yet. We have advised them to move and so we'll see other communities like Lemonal which will be impacted and all the string of communities in the river valley. So we are warning people to take heed, listen to the advisory. Another advisory will be coming out this evening giving some specifics as to what people ought to be doing - move to safety, move your animals. The ministry of agriculture in the national emergency center meeting this morning is working with farmers in BelRiv and the Crooked Tree area so that they could move out whatever crops, livestock etc to a safe area, because we know that's the flood event that they are now seeing starting could get worse. As far as perhaps Lord's Bank and parts of Ladyville. The water is coming down the Sibun River in the Belize District. There is flooding at this point in the coastal road, we could see the water moving from the high ground into the lower reaches into these catchment areas, so flooding will take place more than likely in those communities and the Belize River Valley."
The NEMO Coordinator is also concerned that Belizeans aren't following their safety advisories, specifically about attempting to traverse through flood waters affecting the different parts of the country. He made the point that whenever a citizen becomes distressed, such as that driver on the Coastal Road, rescue personnel are then forced to risk their lives:
Colonel Shelton Defour - NEMO Coordinator
"You mentioned about people going against the advice of NEMO and we have a responsibility to keep the public informed and to advise them accordingly. It is the individuals or individuals who have to adhered to those advice and not to take the risk and believe that they could take the chance of going through flood waters either walking through it or driving through it, because you're putting your life and your equipment at risk. We saw in Trinidad recently a lady from this very same system try to cross a ditch and got sweep away and I don't think they have recovered her body as yet, so its very serious and you put the search and rescue team at risk, because they have to go out sometimes at night and they have families as well and so when people are not taking the advisory serious, it has a severe impact on the decision making that we have to make; do we take the chance or not. So, we implore the public to take the advisories. Don't play in flood waters. The ministry of health is concerned about dermatitis and about gastro-intestinal illness which is in the increase due to contaminated water. They are seeing ecoli in some of the tests they are running. So the secondary impact is also of major concern."
