Thirteen others storms followed Alex before Belize was threaten once again by nature. Tropical Storm Mathew made landfall in southern Belize the last week of September but not before Hurricane Karl gave a scare to the nortenos.
Around September 11 an area of low pressure remained motionless north of Venezuela. The storm moved a little to the north causing some rain to parts of Jamaica and it was not until the 14th that the storm became more organized and was named Karl. It moved west threatening Belize and the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It was September 15 and the storm seemed to be organizing more by the hours as it moved North West.
Graphic courtesy of Wikipedia
While Belizeans kept attentive watch of the storm, by late Wednesday September 15, it was clear Karl was making its way to Quintana Roo. Of course this was no good news for Mexicans as they prepared to commemorate Mexico’s 200th Anniversary of Independence that night. Throughout the Mexican state, anniversary celebrations were canceled for many major cities in lieu of the approaching storm. The most they experienced though was scattered flooding which evicted over a hundred families from their houses. There was some lost of power but it was soon restored.
Picture courtesy of Channel 5 News (GBP) Belize
Picture courtesy of Channel 5 News (GBP) Belize
Back in Belize, the northern most district, Corozal, experienced nothing but intervals of light rain and squalls associated to Karl. The worst Karl did to Corozal was toppling some beach palapas and break tree branches; nonetheless NEMO Corozal was in full activation. Power was lost due to some damage to power lines coming from Mexico; however,electricity was restored by afternoon the following day.
Karl intensified quickly to a category three hurricane the following day as it entered the Bay of Campeche. It later made land fall north of Veracruz Mexico on September 17.
Graphic courtesy of Wikipedia
Nine days after the passage of Karl once again Belize was under the threat of yet another storm – Mathew. Mathew passed over Nicaragua and Honduras before arriving to Belize as a weak Tropical Depression. While it claimed some lives in these Central American countries Belize was spared from major damages and loss of life. There was some flooding in the south of the country and like always Belize City felt the effects due to the flooded streets.
Picture courtesy of Channel 5 News (GBP) Belize
Picture courtesy of Channel 5 News (GBP) Belize
Picture courtesy of Channel 5 News (GBP) Belize
Initially it was expected that Mathew would move north and eventually hit the south state of Florida. That did not materialized as Mathew had a mind of its own and after moving into Belize it stalled inland near the Isthmus of Tehuantepec bringing a lot of rain to the area. Mathew never did make out to the Gulf of Mexico and dissipated by the end of September.
As the year comes to an end many of us tend to look back at the events that will be remembered of the year that goes by. This year is no exception, 2010 brought its fair share of people and events, both man-made and natural, which made it on news headline and perhaps was the talk of town for some weeks, if not months.
One of the events that perhaps will be remembered very well as it still lingers among us is the devastation caused by nature; this year being perhaps the first in the history of Belize that three storms hit the jewel in the same storm season. While two were mild and left minimal damages to lives and structures, Hurricane Richard maybe well remembered for being the storm that hit the old capital after almost 50 years when the city was battered by Hattie.
Now that the storm season is over and the rain has stopped, scientist are analyzing the 183 days of the season and the 2010 Hurricane Season has been considered as a hyperactive season being the most active one since 2005. The first storm to form was Alex which formed in July, a relatively weak storm that reached category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale at one point.
Graphic courtesy Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia 2010
The storm formed emerged as Tropical Wave in mid-June and by the 24th it was south of Jamaica with 50 percent chances of developing into a storm. Later that day the National Hurricane Center issued an advisory on the first Tropical Depression of the season. Meanwhile, some 800 miles to the west, Belizeans had their eyes on the approaching storm.
Two days after, June 26 the storm was upgraded to a tropical storm and it then gained a little more strength before it made landfall in north Belize with winds of 65 mph. The storm caused little or no damage to infrastructure, homes, and agriculture as it pass over the North Belize District and south of Orange Walk District, a sparsely populated area.
The most the storm brought to these areas was intervals of rain. While some people decided to buy non perishable goods in the event the storm creates havoc, the majority of Belizeans weathered the mild storm unprepared. As a matter of fact during the passage of the storm, many individuals living in the path of the storm opted to spend their Saturday night in the clubs and at house parties. For the exception of certain streets in Belize City flooding out, and the national radio LOVE FM continuing its hurricane coverage, many people did not notice a storm had passed over the country.
Photo courtesy News 5 (GBP) Belize, 2010
Nonetheless, this storm provided a good opportunity for NEMO, the National Emergency Management Organization, to test its ability to manage the country’s resources in the event of a bigger storm. In the south of the Orange Walk district, the storm passed through the villages of Guinea Grass, and parts of August Pine Ridge and Yo Creek. While NEMO Orange Walk remained activated for the next two days, its assessments showed no major damages except like a couple of blown zinc sheets of houses.
By the following day, Alex was already in the Bay of Campeche and when it gained strength by June 29 it was upgraded as a category one hurricane. Alex made landfall as a category 2 hurricane in Soto la Marina.
Statement by the 2010 Article IV Consultation Mission to Belize
Press Release No. 10/273
July 1, 2010
Mario Garza, chief of the International Monetary Fund mission to Belize, issued the following statement today in Belmopan:
“An IMF mission conducted discussions on the 2010 Article IV consultation with Belize during June 21-July 1. The mission met with Prime Minister Dean Barrow, the government’s economic team, the private sector, and civil society. The mission thanks the authorities for their warm hospitality and the cordial policy discussions, which focused on the economic outlook for 2010 and the medium term, and the government’s macroeconomic strategy.
“Economic activity stagnated in 2009, as a result of the global slowdown and the lingering effects from the floods in 2008. Growth has resumed since late 2009, but the recovery is still narrowly based, while inflation appears to be picking up somewhat, driven by the rise in fuel prices. For 2010, the mission expects growth to resume modestly, and export prices and tourist receipts to recover slightly, allowing foreign reserves to stabilize at just over three months of imports of goods and services. Despite the recent tax revenue actions, the overall fiscal deficit is likely to widen in FY2010/11, owing largely to upward pressure on primary current spending and increased investment, while the public debt would remain high. The overall banking system appears liquid and well capitalized, but the mission is concerned about the rise in nonperforming loans (NPLs).
“The consultation discussions centered on strategies to promote sustainable growth and reduce poverty. The mission underscored the need to strengthen fiscal and external buffers to deal with future shocks. Building on the recent revenue measures and in order to put the public debt-to-GDP ratio on a firm downward path, the primary fiscal surplus would need to be raised significantly over the medium term, by restraining the growth in current spending; prioritizing investment; and placing the pension system on a strong and sustainable footing. The mission also encouraged the authorities to press ahead with current plans to improve tax and customs administration.
“In the monetary and banking area, the mission welcomed recent reforms to improve the conduct of monetary policy, by relying more on market-based monetary instruments and further reducing non-remunerated reserve requirements. It encouraged the authorities to advance these reforms, which should help reduce intermediation spreads, while maintaining a disciplined monetary stance. The mission also advised the authorities to remain vigilant in their supervision of domestic and offshore banks, ensure that sufficient provisioning is made to cover NPLs, and further strengthen prudential regulations.
“Upon its return to Washington, DC, the mission will prepare a staff report that is scheduled to be discussed by the IMF Executive Board in early September. It is expected that the staff report would be published shortly thereafter.”
A pilot project on papaya production for small farmers was inaugurated this morning in the Pettville area in the Orange Walk district.The pilot project comprises of five acres of papaya plantation and is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Agriculture along with the Taiwan Mission in Belize and the European Union through La Inmaculada Credit Union.The project is to demonstrate that papaya farming is an investment opportunity for farmers to diversify within the agriculture sector in the north.
Finance for the project is being offered by the European Union through La Inmaculada Credit Union Small Scale Enterprise in Agriculture and Tourism project.
Celso Martinez is the president of the Orange Walk Farmer’s Association and thinks the pilot project is a great opportunity for others farmers to learn about papaya farming.
Technical support will be carried out by the Taiwan Mission in Belize.Belarmino Esquivel is the District Agriculture Coordinator and says that the objective is to train 50 farmers of the Orange Walk and Corozal districts in papaya farming and from which they will select the best farmers to continue papaya production; ensuring the best papaya for export.
The good news is that the local exporters have recently had a demand for an extra ten containers to be exported per week. Wilbert Valencia represents Little Belize Exporters Ltd, the company that has agreed to purchase all export quality papayas produced from the five acres in order to meet his international demand.
Farmers receive approximately ten Belize dollars per box of papaya that is exported.Esquivel says that each acre can give approximately 3 to 5 thousand boxes of papaya that can be exported.There is a possibility of accessing further financing from Taiwan and other funding agencies for the establishment of an additional 30 acres of papaya.The present pilot project is expected to run for three years.Reporting for Love News from Orange Walk I am Arturo Cantun.
The Banquitas House of Culture in Orange Walk is gearing up with a line up of summer activities for children on summer vacation. Today we spoke with the regional coordinator for NICH, Javier Ayuso who told us that starting July 13, the house of culture in Orange Walk town will be offering courses in different forms of art.
Ayuso encourages parents to take this opportunity and have their children enrolled in these productive summer activities. Ayuso also invites everyone to visit the museum’s newest exhibition on the lives of prominent national heroes. Love News spoke with Cindy Rivero, Museum supervisor at Banquitas House of Culture.
The exhibition runs until September. Rivero also gave us a preview of an exhibition they have coming up for mid-July that is going to showcase the different medicinal plants in Belize.
Reporting for Love News I am Arturo Cantun
Monday, June 28, 2010
NEMO Orange Walk remains activated as it continues to monitor the rising water levels of rivers in the district. Yesterday when we spoke with NEMO Coordinator for Orange Walk, Suleima Celiz, she and a team were on their way to assess damages that had been caused by the storm in the southern part of the district. Today, Celiz said that while no major structural damages were noticed, their concern for now is the rising levels of the Rio Hondo and New River. Celiz said the report should be ready this late this afternoon. We will have more on this report in our subsequent news reports. Reporting from Orange Walk for Love News I am Arturo Cantun.
Corozal Police has handed over the body of a Mexican national who was retrieved from the Rio Hondo yesterday afternoon. According to Corozal police, around four yesterday afternoon 46 year old Mexican national Miguel Angel Galindo, accompanied by his brother, was walking across to the Mexican side over the Belize-Mexico Friendship Bridge in Santa Elena when upon approaching the Mexican side Galindo decided to jump into the river. Galindo appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. Three men jumped into the river to try and rescue Galindo but because of the strong water current, Galindo was pulled to the Belize side of the border. Galindo was immediately pulled out of the river and Corozal police transported him to the Corozal Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The Red Cross from neighbouring Chetumal also responded to the emergency call but by the time they got to the border, Galindo had been transported to Corozal Town. Later yesterday afternoon, Galindo’s family visited Corozal Police to request the body which was facilitated through the assistance of Lic. Mateo Avila Arceo, deputy attorney General for Chetumal. Up to news time, Galindo’s brother who accompanied him at the time of the incident had not been located. Reporting for Love News from Orange Walk I am Arturo Cantun.
