Ministry of Tourism and National Emergency Management

Prime Minister surveys Hurricane Damage

Belmopan - 22 August, 2007

Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Said Musa has carried out an on-site inspection in the Corozal District. Based on what he saw and the preliminary reports of the assessment of the damages, he has declared the Corozal District a Disaster Area.

There is extensive damage to many homes in Corozal Town and the surrounding villages. Many homes lost their roof and suffered extensive damage to their bedding and other household items. Power lines are down and the entire district is without electricity.

Fruit crops were destroyed, that is, mangoes, avocado, coconut, cornfields blown down, sugarcane fields water-logged and the papaya plantations completely wiped out. Trees were blown down in many areas. At this point there seems to be no extensive flooding.

The Prime Minister has met with many affected families who did not sleep in their homes last night. He has assured them that financial assistance and disaster relief will be provided to them as a matter of urgency in order for reconstructions to take place as soon as possible.

The PM was accompanied on his tour by Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Vildo Marin, Minister responsible for NEMO, Hon. Godfrey Smith, National Coordinator for NEMO, Colonel George Lovell and Mr. Florencio Marin Jr. - PUP Standard Bearer for Corozal South East.

2. As mentioned above, the district is still without electricity ... which means they are also without running water. Those people who have intact rain cisterns are sharing with those who don't, for bathing and so forth. It is expected to take days, if not weeks, to restore the electricity; no word on restoration of water service ... but bear in mind, the water pumps are electric.

3. Belize's northern border with Mexico at Corozal is closed. No word on when it will re-open. This is not the time to try to enter Belize by car, you will be turned back.

4. Telephone service is resuming for some land line phones. This is spotty, depending on where the phone lines went down. Cellular service continues to be available, but many phone batteries are exhausted.

5. Today in Corozal Town, the Texaco gas station reopened selling gasoline at $10.94 per gallon. The tortilla factory also reopened today. Lines at both establishments were blocks long. The bakery has not reopened, so there is currently no bread available in town.

6. Clarification on flooding: Some low-lying homes in Corozal Town did have some flooding from the torrential downpour, described as a rainwater "moat" around them. Some of these homes are in the neighborhood of Villa Imports. This water is starting to dry out. The only "storm surge" flooding from the sea reported to me was in Corozal's South End, where low-lying, empty lots -- those that have not yet been land-filled -- experienced some seawater flooding. Within a couple of hours after the storm moved across Corozal, the bay water returned, crept across the open lots, and at least part way across the South End road. This receded almost immediately.

7. Consejo Shores / Consejo Village / Maya Resort Update

Many of you asked about the area north of Corozal, so I attempted to get some information. According to Art Higgins, the Consejo area homes are intact, with no visible structural or major damage. Some minor repairs are needed, such as gutter replacement. However, all of the large trees were uprooted by the storm. Those lovely old bulletwood trees are all gone, I am sorry to say.

8. Chetumal

I have very little information about conditions in Chetumal, other than to say that winds there were clocked at 165 m.p.h., and nearly every building in the city has at least some damage. There is no electricity there, either.

There's a blog entry on the Austin American-Statesman website that describes a journalist's brief visit to Chetumal, with a couple of photos.

Again, I want to emphasize that absolutely no deaths have been reported from the storm.

If you have information to share, or questions for me to send along, don't hesitate to email me: margaret (at) localgringos (dot) com.

--Margaret (a.k.a. MaggieBelize)