Belize: Wicked weather whips through Cayo
By Channel 7 News
Fri, 27 May 2005, 19:00
Belize, May 27, 2005 (Channel 7) - Last night we told you about the powerful localized thunderstorm in the Cayo District. The storm affected the towns of Santa Elena and San Ignacio where roofs of homes and schools were blown away, trees were uprooted and lamp-posts were snapped like matchsticks. Today we visited the scene and found authorities and residents hard at work, trying to restore order in the municipalities even if they were a little disoriented after being hit by the kind of storm that just doesn't happen in El Cayo.
Manuel Medina, Principal - Santa Elena Primary School
"When this happened yesterday we were using the auditorium because some children were practicing in there. All of the kids were indoors because you know it was raining heavily and they had just gone in after break so everybody was in there. So there were not children running up and down until the roof started to fly off then you know there was a big commotion and some of the children started coming down to shelter at the bottom floor."
Lavern Flowers, Principal - Faith Nazarene School
"At about 3:15 yesterday it started to rain and the breeze was coming like strong. There was a lot of thunder and lightning and I was standing by my office door looking out and I saw a big piece of the roof came sailing over in front of the yard over by that side and I got scared and I shouted after the children upstairs that I know was affected to come down. They came down to the second floor through the office door and they ran into the safety of the rooms on the second floor. I was very scared. I didn't know what to do so I started to shout for the ones upstairs to come down because I thought all the roof was going to come because I saw one chunk come off and then I saw another chunk come off so when I saw the second chunk I came off I said well now this is serious and a lot of the children and crying. I didn't know to do."
Nelita Castillo,
"I looked over at my bodega and I see this thing start to lift up and it got harder and harder and then at exactly 3:20 we see a white white breeze just come by, something very unbelievable...it's the first time in my life I ever experienced something like this and I saw in my neighbors house they were screaming and making a lot noise and when I looked over again, when the breeze was gone, I looked at my bodega and the zinc was gone and my worker was running and was coming to shelter here. I saw the other go through that side and there was a white cloud like a breeze or I don't know what but it was just spinning and after that I looked out here and I saw that the zinc was gone."
Edwardo Alvarez,
"About 3:30, sometime around then, there was a kind of breeze like a hurricane but coming with a severe power. I figure that just estimating the power of this breeze that it was about 70 to 80 miles per hour, very very strong. I was in the house me one and when I saw a breeze that came with a great power and lifted the roof off te house, it lift it up about two feet and then it went down. And then it came again and when it made the next attempt and it lift it up, every piece of the roof went and it dropped about 500 to 600 yards from the house, all through neighborhood the zincs and pieces of wood are. It was something very dangerous."
Some of the recollection of students and residents of Santa Elena and San Ignacio of the tornado-like storm that uprooted, twisted and snapped giant trees like twigs, ripped off entire roofs and brought the once hurricane immune towns a reality check and then some.
Alfonso Cruz, Mayor
"This came as a surprise and after this storm people are fearful because if this could have been a storm and it caused so much damage, what if a hurricane would come. So for instance we have the school in Santa Elena which has been declared as a hurricane shelter and this storm that hit us yesterday blew about 3 or 4 pieces of their zinc so I think we need to secure these areas that been declared hurricane shelters."
Alfonso Noble,
What are you all going to be learning from this?
Alfonso Cruz,
"Well to be more prepared and to really be prepared should we be hit by a hurricane to secure ourselves and secure our homes because this was only a storm and it caused so much damage so what can we expect from a hurricane."
And while the towns are very aware of what hurricane force winds can do and how susceptible they may be to this kind of natural disaster, for the immediate future, the focus is on cleaning up and starting to rebuild on what remains. Today Town Council workmen as well as affected residents were cleaning up debris left in the wake of the storm. But even as they do this, Cruz says they are hindered by lack of resources.
Alfonso Cruz,
"At the moment we cannot say what the total damage has been because we are still gathering information but at the moment we have been just visiting the people that have been affected and I've also dispatched my workers to the different areas whereby trees have fallen and we need to cut these limbs and pile them and throw them away. The Town Council only owns one truck for the whole municipality so what I would like to call on the Ministry of Works in Santa Elena, as well the Agriculture Department in Central Farm or any people in our community who can assist us with trucks, with trailers, and with tractors to assist us because we really need it."
And while Cruz asks for assistance to help in the clean up effort, the schools affected as well as the residents are now only trying to assess the damages and try to figure out how to put their properties back together.
Manuel Medina,
"Practically the entire half portion of 6 classrooms were actually blown out and you could see them here in the compound. But I have had some people coming in to look at it and only the zinc alone they told me is $5,000 and that's not including the lumber and the labor that will be required. It was just recently completed in January and we had just started using the classrooms."
Alfonso Noble,
How does this set you back?
Manuel Medina,
"Well its probably just like the song says, you take one step forward and two step backwards because now we are pressed with fixing it again because you know Monday we have classes again and we need the rooms. We have had problems with the first floor, it used to leak a lot and that's why we were pressed to finish this so that the kids could have a better room but now we're back to square one."
Lavern Flowers,
"We lost 25 sheets of zinc and as you can see the lumber and everything came down with it. Our rough estimate is $3,900."
Alfonso Noble,
Where will you all get the financing to refix your building?
Lavern Flowers,
"At this point I can't say, I think my management or the manager is going to see about that for us because right we don't know what to do."
Edwardo Alvarez,
"I have a very bad feeling now, I have a headache to see my house went down this kind of way and the problem is I need help. I need help from whosoever would like to help me because I don't know how I will recover but I estimate this damage roughly about $18,000 to $20,000 to put all that was before and with the lumber, everything is expensive now, I figure about $18,000 to $20,000 would put me back but I have no money to do it."
Nelita Castillo,
"I am worried because all the cement got wet up and that machine got damaged, and the current started to spark but then the current went so weren't worried about that anymore."
Alfonso Noble,
What is the estimated damage?
Nelita Castillo,
"As of this morning we haven't finished the estimate but we have a lot of damage for sure and the roof itself, most of the zinc is no longer good. As of this exact moment we haven't had a full estimate."
Alfonso Noble,
How are you going to recover from this?
Nelita Castillo,
"Surely but slowly, that's the only thing I can say. We have to work harder this time."
And that is the best hope for these towns that for the first time have the unenviable experience of rebuilding after a storm tore through town.
The National Emergency Management Organization says that it has dispatched teams to the affected areas in the twin towns and estimates have been made for assistance to be provided to those affected. Meanwhile Mayor Alfonso Cruz says he'll be establishing a relief fund to assist those affected.
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