Flooding Causes School Closures and Sparks Political Jabs Amid Cleanup Efforts

And just like that the rains have passed.  It came, caused flooding and saw school cancelled for the most part.  It also saw the opposition using the weather for political points, and the Belize City Mayor making checks at the Yabra pumping station.  The media was out there this morning.  Here is Benjamin Flowers with a report.

Benjamin Flowers, Love News: Belize City took the brunt of the rains over the past 24 hours. The deluge came just after 10 o’clock last night and persisted until mid-morning inundating streets, yards and school campuses. The rains came as no surprise as the National Met Service had advised residents of the incoming storm and that we could expect some 2 to 4 inches of rain. It turns out, however, that the country saw more rainfall than was forecast. Senior climatologist Shanea Young reiterated that the weather models are merely a guide and with mother nature it’s not an exact science. 

Shanea Young, Senior Climatologist, National Met Service: “So as a result of a strong tropical wave that passed over our area due to an area of low pressure that has now since formed and currently is over a Belize we have received about five inches of rainfall in the Belize City area. So far, Belize City has been the area that received the most rainfall and most of the activity while across the entire country received some rainfall between 9 p.m. last night and up until now but the Belize district received the most amount of rainfall. The second highest amount of rainfall was near Hattieville and also the in the La Democracia area between last night and this morning with about four inches near Democracia.”

Benjamin Flowers, Love News: As vehicles and pedestrians maneuvered through the water, reports emerged of a non-functioning pumping station at the Yabra Bridge. Shortly after, Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner personally visited the area as workers activated the pump in the presence of the media.

Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City: “The four screws are working efficiently. Really putting out like one cubic meter of water per screw. So you are looking at four cubic meter per second of water being pulled right now. As we sit based on the engineers’ discussions I’ve had with them this is just taking off the top of the water currently. We have not locked off the gates, the sluice gates as yet because water has being pushed out in its natural form in different areas of the city. But as soon as we begin to generate more of the pull from these screws then those gates will be locked and then it will begin to pull totally from within the inner part of the city here. It stops the flow of the water coming down the Belize River, right, and so now you are able to concentrate primarily on the water coming down the rain water in that specific zone. And so now as the water comes down via rain it goes naturally in the drains and the drains into the canals and then through this mechanism that we have here those water is pulled by this mechanical screws and pushed out the sea.”

Benjamin Flowers, Love News: By lunchtime, the flood waters had receded. According to City Engineer Ramon Menjivar the pumps assist in the runoff of the waters. He explained that the pumps are activated after an assessment of the flooding conditions are completed. 

Ramon Menjivar, Assistant City Engineer: “If we expect that the water would run off say about in six hours we could have the water with the pumps activated two to three hours. Every time it rains we do an assessment of the amount of water that is on the streets and if we see that we have a vast amount of water on the streets then that is the signal that we need to activate. The system itself has a level of indication when it reaches a certain level then that gives us an indication that we should activate. When you see the canals are filled and the drains are filled then that is the time when we need to activate the pump.”

Benjamin Flowers, Love News: While weather patterns are changing globally with climate change as a contributing factor, Mayor Wagner reminded residents that Belize City is below sea level and projects like the pumping station are means of mitigating the effects. 

Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City: “Obviously they have to speak to the technical people. Listen, flooding is everywhere. Globally you look at Miami flooding is everywhere. So our people have to begin to learn to appreciate that climate change is here and they have to play their role as well in keeping their yards clean of shrubs, ensuring that the drain in front of their yards are clean. It’s not always just a city council task to take on drainage in front of residents. You should have that civic pride as an individual, as a resident, as a property owner to take pride in your property to ensure that you aid in alleviating flooding in your neck of the woods.”

Benjamin Flowers, Love News: The Yabra pumping station was inaugurated in October 2023. It is a pilot project that will determine if others will be constructed in other areas of the city. Benjamin Flowers, For Love News.