Last night, Belizeans in the north buried themselves under blankets with their flashlights held close and windows boarded up, preparing for the rains and winds of hurricane Beryl.
Except, those never came. In fact, it was a regular summer night without even a drop of rain or heavy gusts.
The north was spared from the wrath of hurricane Beryl and today the town slowly returned to its Friday routine after the all clear was given. Jomarie Lanza spoke with the NEMO team in Corozal this morning, and here's what she learned about how the town's preparedness was tested at the start of the season.
Last night, the Corozal Bay was as still as a lake - not even a hint of breeze or gust rolling in.
The only thing townspeople noticed was that the water in the bay seemed to have receded slightly - exposing the large rocks at the shoreline. This happens with every storm.
But there was no panic in the streets, no last minute hustling around - and no reason for it - the night was still, silent and dry.
And on this night the storied "Gateway to Ancient Chactemal' did not open for Hurricane Beryl or its tropical storm winds, or even the feeder bands of rain.
And this morning, at dawn still no rain, just slightly overcast skies, but no matter if the weather came to this town or went more north, the mayor of Corozal says they were more than prepared to endure
Rigo Vellos, Mayor, Corozal Town
"We can say that whatever happened just now it only gave us the opportunity to see where we need to improve, but nevertheless i'm glad that I can say that we were prepared just incase anything had happened but by the grace of God we can say that we were spared once more and Belize is blessed."
"There's a good communication between the town council and NEMO we do have a good working relationship i believe that NEMO did their utmost best to be prepared I know that if the storm would have come that we were prepared they ensured that they of course cross their T's and dot their is so I am very proud of them and i can say that they did all they could do to ensure that they were prepared."
This morning Corozal's DEMO team met one last time to assess and begin the resumption to normalcy which includes doing one last sweep of the villages to return supplies and shelter keys.
Ronnie Hernandez, District Coordinator
"The standing position for Corozal is that we have received the all clear from my National emergency management organization coming directly NAC the Met service itself, the Prime minister himself has briefed us, so I would like to report that currently we had an all clear briefing in the NEMO Corozal. As you may have seen, you can probably take a look. We have not been impacted at all, mainly drizzling and small rains, something we can live with, no home inundation zero reports in the Corozal district and my 28 villages and four communities have reported zero of them. Nevertheless we are now rocking with the after committees which would be the aftermath, going to the different shelters, picking up the keys the forms the distribution that has been given and signed for and returning it back to the nuevo san Juan warehouse."
The anticipation was high in the north for some action, some rain or anything that would make people feel that their preparedness and the expenses incurred were not in vain. But the mayor and district coordinator maintain that there is no such thing as being over prepared in these situations.
Jo-
"If you've been on the media for this morning or as of last night im sure you've been reading all the comments and everything that people have been talking about and some people are upset that they went and they used up their funds to purchase and get ready for this hurricane and no hurricane, any thoughts?"
Rigo Vellos, Mayor, Corozal Town
"Actually From my own experience there is nothing as being over prepared you are either prepared or not prepared and if you are not prepared you will fail and failure is one thing that we don't want especially when you have peoples lives at risk. NEMO was prepared we were prepared and we will continue to be prepared, I don't think we alarmed the public i think if the public would have not listened to NEMO and if this storm would have come to us we would have been in great great danger so I can applaud NEMO for whatever steps they took, I believe that they were prepared and its best to be prepared and not to fail."
Ronnie Hernandez, District Coordinator
"Honestly we are in the beginning of the season and if you stock up on groceries we are just initiating this hurricane season. We have much more systems to come and if you stock up on groceries and you know that you have a long shelf life you can grab open it and eat it, it's better to be prepared because if you fail to prepare then we will prepare to fail."
