#11574 Postby Lost in Belize » Wed Aug 22, 2007 12:57 pm
Hi All,
Finally got back to a computer. I spent the storm in the western part of Belize in the Cayo Districts. This is high mountainous terrain, and we had little or no effect other than some gusts up to 30-40mph and a bit of rain. Belize City sustained no damage whatsoever, even though it was pretty much evacuated. I took a boat trip to Ambergris Caye later yesterday afternoon. We were the only boat on the water, as the return to the town had not yet started. The island was mostly out of power, but power was restored by 6:30 pm to most areas. There is little sign of major damage, except to docks, most of which are left crooked with missing planks and shaky pilings. There is some beach erosion evident along the main seawall with huge gaping holes where sand used to be. Since about 9000 of the 12000 residents were evacuated, the island seemed deserted, although a few grocery stores were open. The good news is the the tourism infrastructure on teh island remains intact, and none of the hotels seem to have sustained any significant damage.
Reports from Northern Belize are not as encouraging. The Papaya Industry, which is owned by Brooks Tropical, and represents the largest importer of papayas into the US and Canada and a very large employer in Northern Belize lost a large percentage of their crops. Company officials are assessing the damage, and the silver lining is that Brooks, headquartered in Homestead, FL, is no stranger to hurricane recovery, having lost and recovered a major production of Avocados after Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
Corozal Town lost a few houses, several roofs, but thankfully no loss of life. Power is still down in the area, but damage is a lot less than was expected in light of a Cat 5 storm.
Belize
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