MIDH assist communities after widespread flooding

As restoration work continues in the aftermath of last weekend’s tropical wave, the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing has mobilized teams across various municipalities and communities nationwide.

The City of Belmopan and its surrounding areas were significantly affected by the recent rains. The south of the country also felt the impact of the tropical wave, while several areas in the Belize District remain under close monitoring as floodwaters continue to run off.

Chief Engineer at the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing, Evondale Moody, spoke about the efforts underway to assist the areas hit hardest.

Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing: “We were able to get calls and requests from other municipalities specifically in the Cayo district and also in the Stann Creek district. And so the team from MIDH was on standby and so they were able to mobilize to these other municipalities to assist as best as we can. We know that there are a couple small bridges that were affected in the Cayo district, also in the Stann Creek District. And so my team were able to mobilize to those areas and assist in municipalities as best as they can. The major concern in these municipalities, including the Belmopan was the opening of dreams that were either clogged or needed some clearing and so that is what we are assisting with at this point in time and what we also helped with over the weekend.”

Moody also elaborated on the work his team is doing on the ground in Dangriga Town and in the Toledo District, as these areas were also affected by the tropical wave and continue to experience scattered showers in some parts.

Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing: “What we’re doing we had to repair a wooden bridge that was washed out. So we are replacing that bridge structure and also the approach. However, we’re providing heavy equipment to assist in the clearing of drains and the opening of inlet and outlet channels to get this water to run off. So that is basically what we’re assisting with and also with the provision of materials to replace areas that has been undermined or that was washed out over the weekend. We have been working in the Toledo district from last week before this rainfall occurred over this weekend because they are experiencing flooding from last week. And so the entire MIDH Toledo team is mobilized working in those areas. There are some areas that are just low lying and there’s not much that we can do in terms of flooding and we just have to wait for that water to recede. However, we have been mobilizing our team to different villages within the Toledo district, there’s a number of them that we have actioned for us to help”. 

We also asked Moody about photos and video circulating on social media, showing parts of the Coastal Plain being inundated.

Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing: “So in respect to the coastal plain, there was only one location that I was identified and notified of which was the approach to Sibun Bridge. That is the floodway and under the design of coastal we anticipate that that section will flood and so it acted accordingly. It had flooded but it did not reach a level based on the gauges that we have along the highway that we required it to be closed. And so the coastal highway was not closed over the weekend but we had teams monitoring the increase in elevation of the water running across the highway in those flooded floodways. So we did not do anything there. We do anticipate additional problems going on. If we get more rainfall within that area then maybe other floodways may be inundated, but we will have to wait and see how that goes. Those areas are designed to be flooded, as I’ve mentioned before, and so we anticipate that that will happen.”

As cleanup and recovery continue across the country, Moody says, the Ministry remains focused on assessing damage and supporting the communities most in need.