NEMO’s Tally Of Damages

NEMO also reports that the total damages in all sectors as of October 27th are estimated at 70 million Belize dollars. Again, that is just an initial figure.

Channel 7

Storm “Sufferahs” Speak Out

The area has been a staging ground for political football dating back to the Dickie Bradley days - but when we visited today we found no one in the goal; the residents of this rundown area say they haven't gotten any structural hurricane relief:

Resident
"Well what happen with the hurricane is it hurt a lot of us, in the sense of the wind, the water, the canal that raise, it came up under our flooring and actually push up the flooring board. We had to get our stuff to a higher place, we put out stuff in our attic and tear off some of our roof. We have an old man right here that have been affected also, there were mud in his house, the siding of his house got rip off."

A patchwork of poverty homes built with scraps of others that were discarded in the hurricane the canal rose up and deluged the area in a fog of filth thrown on the tides of political misfortune

Dwight Palacio
"I went by Mr. Boots but I didn't get the time to really see him due to the amount of people that was there. I ask certain people there and they told me that if I am not in his division then I can't get help."

Jules Vasquez
"But then at the same time you have to challenge you, you went there but you didn't went upstairs to see him."

Dwight Palacio
"Yes because we ask the workers and they told us that if we are not in his division he cannot help us and that we should go to our area representative. My area representative is Mr. Finnegan but unfortunately I don't know if he has something negative against us."

Jules Vasquez
"Mr. Finnegan says that you didn't come to him. He says that your name did not go to his office."

Dwight Palacio
"We didn't go to his office, we went around there yes, but we didn't go upstairs to see him because he is a straight up man, he will tell you what he have to tell you and I am somebody straight up too, I don't want to have to disrespect him in any kind of way because we don't have to go so far."

Jules Vasquez
"The yellow building, did you go there?"

Resident
"Well big man, that massive crowd that is out there, it's so hard for you even to get attention."

Jules Vasquez
"But at the same time life is full of obstacles. You have to deal with it."

Dwight Palacio
"We've been out there."

Jules Vasquez
"But you didn't get in the office."

Resident
"There is a huge crowd out there before us and there is no way we could reach that man."

Jules Vasquez
"You are saying that but you don't know that because you haven't try to go in yet."

Resident
"How you know I didn't try, I am telling you that we try."

Jules Vasquez
"Believe me if I need help I will go there at 5 in the morning and they cannot let me leave until 5 in the evening."

Resident
"You have children?"

Jules Vasquez
"I have everything, but you have to prioritize in life."

Resident
"You have a 9 - 5. We have our little children going to school and we got to make sure that we get back in time to prepare their food, so we have to try to share up time and by the time we come here and there the office is already close and they are not seeing anybody else."

Jules Vasquez
"But you know the old saying 'God helps those......'"

Resident
"'Who help themselves' and that is why we get old boards and helps ourselves through here and take out all the debris out the alley way, yes we help ourselves."

Indeed they have - even using this piece of fence they found floating in the canal; But now they want their portion of what's theirs in the hurricane relief funds for this area of need

Area Resident
"We hear on the news that the thing is for everybody and they should help everybody but we know now and we see now that they have a problem with our village."

Area Resident
"We still need assistance sir because we are all humans."

Area Resident
"We really feel left out then."

Jules Vasquez
"At the same time you can't just expect people to feel sorry for you. Sometime you have to humble yourself and say that you need the help and I am here and I am so and so but I still need it."

Area Resident
"Well this is like this, my personally am not going to them because they already told me not to go there for anything so I am not with that. The old house that they broke down, I go there to beg for the boards to fix up my house because I am old board carpenter and I could do it but same way we need help to."

We note that the Red Cross did assist them after the storm. Also, we note that it's not all rundown palaces through the alley, there are three new Houses built from the Venezuelan fund.

Channel 7

Help After Hurricane Richard

When hurricane Richard hit Belize on October 24 of last year, it wreaked havoc on the coast on Southside Belize, specifically the Yabra area. Well assistance is coming, so the next time a hurricane hit Belize, it won't inundate Yabra the way hurricane Richard did. The Inter-American Development Bank - the IDB- has approved a $10 million loan to improve drainage and road infrastructure in Belize City. In a press release sent out today by the IDB, it stated that the five-year program will help rehabilitate and maintain 3,300 miles of canals, increasing their drainage capacity and reducing the frequency and duration of floods.

Interventions will also include construction of side drains and resurfacing of streets affected by recent flooding, covering a total of 22,700 square miles of road surface. Implementing an integrated approach towards improving living conditions in Belize City, the project will also recover urban spaces, including green areas, sidewalks and cycle-paths.

These interventions will increase porous areas, reducing runoff and enhance living conditions and improve citizens' perception of the City, reducing littering and related maintenance needs.

The total cost of the program will be $10.75 million, including $750,000 in counterpart funds provided by the Government of Belize.

Channel 7