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.