Significant rain in Belmopan right now, yet not showing up on the Rain Radar, or the cloud picture :A few small areas of possible thin high level stationary cloud.

NEW CONTROLLED PRICES FOR LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GAS (LPG)

The Supplies Control Unit (SCU) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise hereby informs the general public that effective Saturday, August 20th, 2022, new fixed controlled prices will be introduced for the sale of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). This change now reflects the sale by wholesale volume and retail sale by volume in both urban and rural areas.

These prices reflect a decrease of BZ$0.11 per gallon for the current shipment resulting primarily from a decrease in the acquisition price of propane.

Friday's sunrise in Corozal Town. Photo by Belize Scoop Blogger

Councillor Dianeli Aranda with the portfolio of Women, Youth and Children is now welcoming new applications to the Low Cost Food Program. The cost of the grocery bag is $25. We acknowledge the recent increases in the cost of goods and we are trying our best to help those that are finding it even more difficult now to keep up with the cost of living during these times.

Application form: https://form.jotform.com/212914644331855

On Ambergris Caye this morning the wind is from the East at 16mph making the sea around our barrier reef rough. It's sunny with an expected high temperature of 86 f. for the day.

Belize Weather Forecast: August 19, 2022 General Situation: Ambergris Caye: Conditions this morning by Elbert just after this post! Belize NMS: Present Condition: Cloudy in the south, mostly clear in the north. Mostly clear with a few clouds in San Pedro. Generally fair weather prevails. Advisories: None. A flood warning is in effect for flood prone and low lying areas, especially in central and northern areas of the country. 24-hour forecast: Sunny with cloudy spells with isolated showers or thunderstorms. Winds: E, 10-20 kts Sea State: Choppy Waves: 3-5 ft Sea Surface Temperature (°f): 85 Outlook: For Saturday and Saturday night is for isolsted showers or thunderstorms, but slightly more will develop over the southern districts Saturday night. Sargassum Forecast from August 16 to August 24: There is a medium chance that beaches across the country could be affected by more Sargassum mats coming ashore during the next few days. San Pedro has a medium probability with a moderate impact. Tropical Weather Outlook: A broad area of low pressure is emerging over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico and this system has a medium chance of becoming a tropical depression during the next 48 hours. Click for more of the tropical weather outlook... Marine Conditions: Phoenix Resort in San Pedro View at the airport/sunset The Caribbean Sea There are two tropical wave in the Atlantic, and none in the Caribbean. Enhanced by an upper-level trough near central Cuba, convergent trades are generating scattered showers south of Cuba and near Hispaniola. The Atlantic ridge extending southwestward from the 1028 mb Azores High continues to channel NE to E trades across the entire basin. Fresh to locally strong NE winds and 6 to 8 ft seas over the south-central basin, just north of Colombia. Gentle to moderate ENE to E winds and seas at 2 to 4 ft exist at the northwestern basin. Moderate to fresh easterly winds and seas of 4 to 6 ft prevail for the remainder of the basin, including the Gulf of Honduras. For the forecast, the Atlantic ridge north of the region will continue to support fresh to strong winds in the south-central and portions of the SW Caribbean through Sat, then gradually weaken through Mon. A broad tropical wave will enter the eastern Caribbean today, and the central Caribbean tonight/Sat.   High Low Coastal 32° C 89° F 27° C 81° F Inland 34° C 93° F 23° C 74° F Hills 27° C 80° F 20° C 68° F TIDES, SUNRISE & MOONRISE: Low: 10:35 AM High: 4:14 PM Low: 9:34 PM High: 3:35 AM (Sat) Sunrise: 5:36 AM Moonset: 12:33 PM Sunset: 6:15 PM Moonrise: 11:54 PM Four Day Weather Outlook: Winds: 250 Km Radar Picture (Time Label on picture is GMT. Local time is GMT-6 Hours) For more information, check the Daily Tropical Weather Outlook. Climate Prediction Center’s Central America Hazards Outlook Belize National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) Ambergris Caye: https://sanpedrowx.com/ https://www.wunderground.com/weather/bz/san-pedro Philip S W Goldson International Airport: https://www.wunderground.com/weather/bz/belize/MZBZ?cm_ven=localwx_today Belmopan: https://www.wunderground.com/weather/bz/belmopan/17.26%2C-88.78 Caye Caulker: https://www.wunderground.com/weather/bz/caye-caulker-village

Our Music brother needs our help.

This morning, after hours of non-stop rain, many Belizeans in central and northern areas woke up to flood waters at their doorsteps. Heavy thunderstorms dumped massive rainfall on large parts of the country, causing sudden flooding.

Some of those flood waters caused substantial damage to a portion of the Philip Goldson Highway, which we'll tell you about.

We start first on our coverage of the storm with comments from the Chief Meteorologist, Ronald Gordon. He held a press briefing via zoom, where he explained that a tropical wave passing over the country was the primary cause of the deluge:

Ronald Gordon - Chief Meteorologist, National Met Service
"We were monitoring a tropical wave that approached the country and crossed overnight; I would say a strong tropical wave. The system began affecting Belize as of yesterday morning, with showers and thunderstorms affecting mainly southern parts of the country at first and then spreading to other parts of the country yesterday afternoon, which was August 17th. Showers and thunderstorms increased overnight; numerous showers and thunderstorms actually affected Central and Coastal areas in the beginning and then moved up towards the north of the country this morning. Currently, we still have some lingering showers and areas of light rain over the extreme north of the country, while most other parts of the country have little rainfall at the moment, except for - I would say - cloudy to overcast skies remaining over other parts. For the most part, the shower activity has moved further north and west as the tropical wave moves away. The system, as I said, was quite strong and has had upper-level support - as we call it to produce intense thunderstorms. Not to get too technical, but we refer to that type of system as a mesoscale convective system, where thunderstorms basically re-develop over and over again over the same area producing torrential rainfall and intense lightning activity. The records from our weather stations indicate we had upwards of 5 inches of rainfall over the Belize City/Ladyville area. From the latest observations I've seen, I actually saw up to 7 inches of rainfall affecting us here at the airport, and that's between midnight and about midday today, which is a 12-hour timespan. To put it in perspective, we recorded at the airport - and this is perhaps one of the most reliable stations that we have. We recorded about 185 millimeters of rainfall over the past 12 hours, and that is extremely high. The rainfall average for this station is around 190 millimeters for the month of August. So again, similar to a situation we saw last month, their station in the north recorded almost the total rainfall in a month in a very short period; again, we have that situation occurring with this recent tropical wave. I guess most people saw it on social media. There was some flooding across the country, and there was some damage to our infrastructure, especially when it comes to our roads and culverts in some areas."

Dams Stable During Heavy Rains

With all the flooding - some in the west were concerned about a rush of water spilling out of the dams on the Macal river. Well, Fortis Belize, the company formerly known as BECOL which operates the Mollejon, Vaca and Chalillo dams sent out a release today to ease the publics concerns. It says operations at the dams remain normal, and, quote, "despite the recent extreme amount of rainfall and a rise in reservoir levels, there have been no spills so far this year."

The release adds however that a "spill event" caused by extreme weather conditions is therefore considered a routine part of operations, during the rainy season and is managed in a controlled manner.

Water levels are constantly monitored and communicated to NEMO.

Channel 7

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Strong Tropical Wave Causes Multiple Thunderstorms across Belize

The system that crossed Belize overnight was a strong tropical wave that dumped more rainfall in some parts of the country in a twelve-hour period than it normally does in an entire month. The system has now moved west of Belize, and weather conditions are expected to improve. Chief Meteorologist, Ronald Gordon explained the system that affected us between Tuesday and today.

Ronald Gordon, Chief Meteorologist

“We refer to that type of system as a meso-scale convective system where thunder storms basically redevelop over and over again over the same area, producing torrential rainfall and intense lightening activity. The records from our weather stations indicate that we had upwards of five inches of rainfall over the Belize City-Ladyville area, from the latest observations I’ve seen. I actually saw up to seven inches of rainfall affecting us here at the airport and that’s between midnight and about midday today. That is extremely high. The rainfall average for this station is around one hundred and ninety milliliters for the month of August. So again, similar to a situation we saw last month, where a station in the north recorded almost the total rainfall for a month in a very short period, again we have this situation occurring with this recent tropical wave. It’s very interesting, I would say, that we have been seeing these exceptionally high amount of rainfall occurring in these very short periods of time. Of course that would lead to the type of flooding that you see. Typically, you’d expect rainfall to be more uniform and distributed across the month, but we’re seeing in recent trends that we get these torrential downpours occurring over a very short period of time. It’s definitely not the first one we have seen in August. I have recalled some Augusts from memory, where we had this type of activity before and you have these relentless thunder storms that persist over an area and produce these types of torrential rainfall. It’s not the first time and August is the month of the year, from a climatological perspective, where we have the most thunderstorms and lightning activity over Belize.”

Gordon advised people to stay alert since the hurricane season usually gets more active later in the season.

Channel 5

Digging Deeper At David McKoy

For the past two nights - we've taken you inside the David L McKoy building - showing you why it's costing 3 million dollars more - of workers' money to retrofit a structure that was declared open in June of 2021.

But, is all that money spent - which will total at 11.1 million dollars really worth it? That is, will contributors take a loss? In part 3, Jules Vasquez gets to the meat of the matter:

Lateral stability - that's what these cross braces are supposed to provide to the David L McKoy building. They were installed along the length and across the width of the building to brace it laterally. And then this brace frame is built on the back - the structure - the engineers say will, quote, "transfer all lateral loads here in the event of a category 3 hurricane or earthquake."

It's a freakish structure - jammed unto the back of the building like a bulging spine - but it is being maximized to create more office space for the tenants who've already rented space in the building.

Roberto Allen - the engineer who was the Contract Administrator for the Social Security Board scoffed at the structure and all the retrofitting - he told us on the phone that it's overkill. He says the size of the steel structure alone gives it stability.

It was his duty to report on the works to the former SSB Building Committee - but the relationship between him and Fabros Construction was contentious. These emails obtained by 7News show some of his reservations.

Much of the discord was over what are known as variation orders - basically requests for more money to complete the project. At least four of them came - like this one for three quarters million dollars - and board member Juliet Thimbriel says she cursed at each one. She felt that the contractor had underbid - and was then adding charges retroactively.

This internal SSB email also expresses concerns about another further payment, saying for this variation requesting 181 thousand dollars more that too much money had been paid out to Fabro. The author notes that materials were not on site or in transit.

This document shows the original contract price and the cost of variation #3 - almost a million dollars. It shows a contractor either in over his head - or who could not deliver the building for the price he bid at. For his part Fabro said that the design was flawed and the modifications he had to make were to correct it during construction.

He later wrote to the SSB, "there is no denying that the improvements are excellent and should have been included in the building plans from the very start." Fabro also says that Allen failed to report to the board many difficulties he encountered with the design. When it was installed, the new board terminated Allen:

Lawrence Ellis, Director - SSB Board
"When we came on board and our initial meeting, we met with the project administrator and the contractor to familiarize ourselves and after a couple of meetings we realized that we are not on the same page. And the fact that the building was still not finished because it was supposed to have been finished already and when we're trying to get answers as to why it was not finished yet, we found that there were many delays and many things that were not up to standard."

Not up to standard - but they may have had a different standard in mind - because the design specifications did not include fireproofing or fire hydrants, for example. And the design also did not say that it had to be resistant to a category 3 storm and an earthquake - the type which has never hit Belmopan.

Reporter
"Are you all in effect trying to improvise and rigamajig the structure?"

Lawrence Ellis, Director - SSB Board
"No, it's not rigamajig, it's works that should've been done initially. It's just being done now. The building is safe, it's going to be safe and we are not throwing good after bad, this building will be profitable, this building is going to be a shining benefit for the contributors of this social security fund."

All that will cost Social Security just under 3 million dollars more of workers' money. Which does not include the repairs that Fabros Construction has to do as part of the Defects Liability period - such as sealing this roof - and fixing cracks in the cement:

Deborah Ruiz, CEO - Social Security Board
"We have because of the heat; a couple windows have shattered and things like that. The contractor has been making those repairs."

Still, despite all this, Ruiz says she is confident that the workers will get a fair return on their investment:

Deborah Ruiz, CEO - Social Security Board
"We would have realized our full in 7 years so it's just pushed back 10 years in the long term a building of this magnitude will last another 50 to 60 years of rental income."

Reporter
"Are you all throwing good after bad?"

Lawrence Ellis, Director - SSB Board
"No, definitely not, you only throw good money after bad when there will never be a good outcome. This building will have a good outcome, this building will have a profitable return for the long-term branch, this building will be beneficial for the people that pay into the fund."

And in the conclusion tomorrow night, Jules Vasquez presents the conclusions, the bottom line of all that went wrong at David L McKoy - plus, he'll ask those tough questions you've been waiting for.

Channel 7

As of Thursday evening there was rotation, anticlockwise rotation in that weather going away from us.



Thursday, August 18th 2022. 6:00 pm Update

TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK:

The tropical wave that affected Belize is now over southeastern Mexico and is expected to emerge into the Bay of Campeche tomorrow. This system has a medium chance of becoming a tropical depression during the next 48 hours, as it continues to progress northwestward, away from Belize.

GENERAL WEATHER FORECAST:

Moist and unstable conditions prevail over the area, but rainfall activity has significantly decreased over the country...

The 24-hr fcst is for skies to be mostly cloudy tonight and sunny with cloudy spells tomorrow. A few showers and isolated thunderstorms will occur mainly over the southern districts and some central areas tonight. Otherwise, showers will be isolated.

A flood warning remains in effect for low-lying and flood prone areas, especially over northern and central areas.

Low temps tonight will range from 80F along the coast, 73 inland, and 68 in the hills. High temps tomorrow will peak near 89F along the coast, 93 inland, and 80 in the hills.

BEL Encourages Precaution during Severe Weather

As a result of the tropical wave currently affecting the country, many communities are experiencing heavy rains, rising water levels and flooding, as well as other weather-related impacts. We remind the public to monitor weather reports and forecasts and to take safety precautions during severe weather.

During stormy weather, lightning strikes or tree branches near power lines often make contact with power lines, resulting in outages. In these circumstances, protection devices on the power system activate automatically as a safety mechanism, causing intermittent outages to prevent damage to BEL’s power supply system and customers’ appliances and equipment, and to protect employees, customers, and the public from electric shock.

In most cases, power supply is restored automatically (in a few seconds), while, in other cases, our teams may need to be dispatched to physically identify and rectify the cause of the power outage. Once our teams are dispatched, power restoration may take longer than usual since they must take extra precautions when working in wet conditions, especially during the nighttime, and are not allowed to work on power lines during rain or lightning or in any condition that may compromise their safety.

If you are experiencing flooding, please do not walk into any area or water that may be connected to an electrical source. Always stay far away from fallen power lines and assume that all wires hanging or on the ground are electrically charged.

BEL remains committed to safely delivering reliable service, and encourage the public to report hazards or damages to the power system by calling 0-800-BEL-CARE / 0-800-235-2273 or message us on Facebook or via WhatsApp at the following numbers:

613-0672 Belize District
613-0673 Corozal & Orange Walk Districts
613-0674 Cayo District
613-0675 Stann Creek & Toledo Districts
613-0676 Cayes

Island league Championship kick off September 1st 2022. Two groups. We will be playing a home and away series.