2 weeks ago
18
Residents of San Antonio Village in the Toledo District are assessing the damage after a freak storm swept through the community last night. The sudden weather event reportedly brought strong winds and heavy rain, leaving several residents concerned about the condition of their homes and other properties. Love News understands that the storm affected parts of the village during the night, though a full assessment of the damage is still being carried out. Our Senior Correspondent, Paul Mahung, travelled to San Antonio Village this morning, where he spoke with Village Chairman Jeremiah Salam about the impact on residents and the immediate needs in the community.
Jeremiah Salam, San Antonio Village Chairman: “We are here in San Antonio Toledo assessing and helping, removing all the debris that are on the road in San Antonio. Last night, at about nine o’clock, everything was fine, but when ten o’clock strike a heavy rain started to ravage the community. Then from there we had this strong wind that came. I believe it’s like a tornado, a freak storm it is and destroyed a lot of trees that were on the route here in the village. That’s the reason that we are clearing early this morning. And I am very thankful for NEMO to show themselves and give us a lot of assistance. We have BTL, BEL here as well working for us today. I want to thank them very much. Also, I want to thank all our community people who came out to assist us early this morning with their machete, their axe, and power saws. Also I’m very thankful that there is no fatalities. Nobody is injured or nobody died during this freak storm.”
Paul Mahung, Toledo Correspondent: Have they brought out any physical assistance or help?
Jeremiah Salam, San Antonio Village Chairman: “Yes, yes, I have a new brand of power saw that we are using right now. One thing I forgot to mention one part of the village have electricity and where the storm passed we do not have no electricity. The next thing is that we do not have no water, no potable water. Why? Because the rain, the heavy rain that came washed out some pipe from the ground and also that pipe that crossed the creek it’s swollen and it washed it away hence the reason we don’t have no potable water right now. Maybe we could ask the minister to send the water bowser here for our community.”
The storm came as a surprise to many residents. Meteorologist Derrick Rudon spoke with Love News about the weather conditions that led to the storm.
Derrick Rudon, Meteorologist: “There were some showers and thunderstorms moving into that area last night. And the thunderstorms were strong or severe and they were accompanied by gusty winds or strong gusty winds, I should say. Our station in Punta Gorda recorded 33 knots. I don’t think there’s an incident occurred in Punta Gorda. Somewhere nearby and so the gusts were 33 maybe even more than that at the location. So there were gusty winds accompanying that thunder storm and that’s what people call the freak storm.”
According to Salam, a portion of the village remains without electricity, and several potable water containers were destroyed during the storm. Officials from the National Emergency Management Organization visited the community today to assess the damage, while Belize Electricity Limited dispatched crews to restore power to affected areas. Village residents, along with members of the Village Council, also joined efforts to clear debris and assist with the cleanup.
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