Belize Prepares for 2025, Reliable Flow of Information A Top Priority

In ten days, the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season will be declared officially opened.  In its preparatory works, the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) has been meeting with stakeholders in every municipality as part of those preparations. On Tuesday, NEMO briefed Cabinet on the forecast for this hurricane season and gave an update on the preparatory work. Minister for Disaster Risk Management Henry Charles Usher spoke on the briefing and the ministry’s focus on ensuring a reliable flow of information.

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Disaster Risk Management: “What is expected is an above normal season. I think that the normal season calls for 14 named storms. They’re expecting 16 or 17 named storms. I think the normal season calls for four major storms, I think they’re expecting five or six major storms this particular season. So it will be an above normal season but I think what is important, some weeks ago NEMO actually launched an early warning system that there was a launch of that facility that initiative and that is to me is critical because that is what you need. You need to be able to get that accurate information early enough so that you can have proper planning. Now in terms of all of the different committees that NEMO oversees, those committees are headed by different government departments. We’re in the process of getting all the reports from those committees so that we can have our plan in place. Recently we also launched the National Disaster Risk Management Plan. This is something that the NEMO Act, the legislation calls for to be updated every year. We’re happy to be able to have that comprehensive plan in place now. As you rightly said, the father of the nation was the first minister responsible for NEMO. NEMO is now in its 25th year celebrating 25 years and it’s important that the public knows, has confidence in NEMO, confidence in the work that it’s doing, confidence in all the different departments and organizations responsible for the disaster mitigation.”

NEMO’s National Emergency Coordinator, Daniel Mendez, says that, currently, the organization is focusing on public outreach and calling on households and businesses to have their hurricane plans in place.

Daniel Mendez, National Emergency Coordinator, NEMO: “We will continue to stress our message of preparedness. We have to prepare at all levels. So all national level agencies, all district level agencies, all companies, all households, all individuals need to start planning. The time to do so is now. We cannot do that when we’re facing a hurricane or a tropical storm. We need to make these things known. So you need to decide where you’re going to go, how you’re going to get there, what you will take with you at the shelter and really that preparation needs to be done now. Every time you go shopping buy something extra and put that aside in your kit. You don’t need to have a lot of, don’t  give yourself that when you need the money, you don’t have it. So when you purchase buy a little bit extra, put it aside in your hurricane kit and have those things prepared in order for you to go. Also simple things like finding your important documents. Start to these in Ziploc bags and having them in one location. So in the future, if something happens to your home, you don’t lose those important things. So little things like that those are the things that we’ll be sharing with you.”

Mendez says that all hurricane shelters have been inspected, and the updated list of shelters will be released next week, which is also Hurricane Preparedness Week.