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#11129 08/21/01 07:26 AM
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 84,397
Marty Offline OP
OP Offline
Storm surge and sea rise as the same thing, covered the island of Caye Caulker up to the first level of houses last night. But was not accompanied by wind and rain. An estimated 4 to 5 feet of sea rise over normal. Part of this may be combined with normal high tide.


The storm Chantal, seems to have consolidated in a stationary position over the Bay of Chetumal at daybreak this morning. Heavy rain. The storm itself is widespread and cloud cover is over most of the Yucatan Peninsular. But at daybreak, the storm itself was not moving. If there is an eye center, it seems to be just east of Corozal town in Belize.


As the water warms up with sunlight, we shall see what happens. It is not apparently over yet, though the drift to the northwest of the outer northward areas of the storm continue. The storm center though is lingering on the border of Belize and Mexico.

The Caye Caulker Village Council communications center, reports at 7:45 Miami time, that Corozal was getting hit with heavy rains and there has been considerable sea rise.


During the night at Caye Caulker, Wendy reports the sea inundated the village from the West side again, like in Keith, for about 3 blocks. The village generator is on a raised mound and is still operating despite being surrounded by the sea, which is calm. The water at the back reached around 3 blocks into the village up to the bakery. On the eastern side, the sea rise reached the first row of houses and covered the foundations in the odd case. The new street/beach repair and right of way was completely covered. By daylight this morning the water had gone back down to normal levels and about 2 or 3 feet is estimated washed away from the width of the previous year's dredging. Not too bad in all, though the Hurricane Season for Belize does not start yet for another week. During September and October is the intense Hurricane time.


At the moment of this writing Corozal was under the thunderstorm associated with what might be referred to as the eye. The eye is not defined and could be anywhere from 5 miles east of Corozal to over Bacalar. Take your guess.


7:45 a.m. Miami reporting time.

#11130 08/21/01 07:26 AM
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 84,397
Marty Offline OP
OP Offline
Hi again:


It's about 4:30 a.m. right now, and since my little
Captain woke up screaming for him morning "coffee", I
had no choice but to get up (hic!). Taking the
opportunity to check my surroundings once again, I
stepped outside and bumped into the Village Council
chairman, Fermin Marin, walking down the beach
observing the damage. He had just left the
communications center at the Village Council office he
said. According to him, the highest gusts recorded on
Caye Caulker throughout the storm were at 52 mph. He
also said that the tide level rose about 4 � 5' in the
back, submerging the back side of the island up to
about the Alan Chan Supermarket or about two and a
half village blocks in from the back pier, although I
have not been back there to check it myself yet. If
what he said was true, then CC at its narrowest point
had about three out of five street blocks submerged
under water at the same time. Whew! An increase in
tide of about 1 or 2 feet more would have had water
surging across the whole island in points from east to
west, creating a sort of "river". I'm glad this
didn't happen. The potential for terrible erosion
would have been imminent then. It is such a scenario
that originally cause the "split" (a favorite swimming
area where the the island is split in two) in the
first place. And the erosion there is terrible and to
the point of being almost unmanageable today.


The beach in front of my home is littered with sea
grass and debris, but seems to be intact now that the
sea level has normalized. From my own personal
observation, it seems as if the beach was eroded about
two to three feet in from where it was before.
However, since a thirty foot beach was added recently,
this still leaves about twenty seven feet of beach
intact which is not too bad.


For a moment, when the sea level crested, there were
sea creatures such as little baby crabs crawling over
the verandah in front here. The sea level has
subsided now, though, and hopefully they have all gone
back to their homes. Aside for a few small rollers
still coming in, the sea looks calm. The wind seems
to be from the southwest and is cool. Clean up begins
tomorrow.


Any other report will have to wait until further
notice. I think I will go back to sleep!


Ciao.
Wendy


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