2010 in Review

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 24^th 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.