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.
