Floodwaters Recede Significantly in Belize River Valley, but Damage from Storm Sara Remains

Floodwaters in the Belize River Valley have significantly decreased, but the damage caused by the natural disaster continues to mount. Since Tropical Storm Sara impacted the country, several rural communities have been negatively affected, people suffered damage to their homes, and farmers lost scores of crops. For days, villagers from Crooked Tree, Rancho Dolores, May Pen, and Flowers Bank were forced to traverse in and out of the communities by boat or large trucks. And, in Burrell Boom Village, as many as six families were temporarily displaced. Today, we spoke to Prime Minister John Briceno about the unfortunate situation, which he says is a result of climate change and years of harmful agricultural practices. 

John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize: “Well, unfortunately, two things have been upon us. Certainly the issue of climate change, that we have longer times of drought and then these heavy showers that create flooding. That’s one aspect of it. But the second aspect is development, agricultural development. For centuries, the whole central valley of Belize, from Belize district all the way to the Cayo district was forest so that when it rained the forest holds back the water, the trees soak up some of the water, and also it gives time for the river to be able to take all the water out onto the sea. But because thousands of acres have been cleared up for agriculture, crops, in between corn, sorghum, vegetables, sugarcane, the cattle industry what is happening now is that we don’t have that kind of wall that slows down the flow of the water. So it’s flowing on faster, quicker, and so it does not give the river or the Belize River enough time to get the water out to the sea. So it’s a perennial problem that we have to be dealing with. And so… one of the projects we’re working with people in agriculture or farmers is what we call climate resilience agriculture, to be able to look at the issues of drought, what we do when there’s a drought, and how about rains, the proper drainage or putting banks so that your plants can be higher up and will not stay under the water. Different things that we have to be working with. We’re working with our farmers and wherever we can give assistance, we can. But as always, you know, the needs are many and the resources are few. So we have to try to use our resources as best as possible to give the biggest impact on the lives of our farmers.”

The National Emergency Management Organization has yet to complete a damage assessment report but remains on the ground in several communities. This morning, Minister of Rural Transformation and Community Development Oscar Requena spoke on the efforts to assist flood victims, particularly in rural areas. 

Oscar Requena, Minister of Rural Transformation: “It has really been a joint effort. Of course, NEMO being the leading agency, but we have seen support from the Minister of Infrastructure, from the Minister of Health, certainly our Minister of Rural Transformation. And we’re all working together to see how we can bring some level of stability to the affected communities. I believe that on a long-term basis, we have to do some serious assessment in terms of certain communities that are constantly affected by flooding, to see how best we can address those situations, and to put in place where possible mitigating factors to be able to mitigate kind of losses and impact that we are seeing to those people in those affected areas.”

Tropical Storm Sara hit Belize on November 17.