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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 84,397
Marty Offline OP
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HURRICANE EMILY LEAVES BELIZE:
Hurricane Emily crossed the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula late last night and is now headed across the Gulf of Mexico. Chief Meteorological Officer Carlos Fuller explained for us today how the National Meteorological Service dealt with the hurricane threat.

Carlos Fuller:


I think we really did very well. First of all we were able to modify an unusual plan appropriately; we did not wait until that 80 degree west latitude line because that would not have given us enough time to evacuate San Pedro and Caye Caulker. By acting early we were able to evacuate some nine thousand residents of San Pedro and Caye Caulker and in fact it was wise because if we had waited until Saturday to do that until Sunday the conditions were so bad at sea those boats would have not been able to leave San Pedro. This indicates that we really need to consider our off shore islands and give them enough lead time to leave and as we develop more of our off shore islands we may consider expanding this warning time similar to what Florida has had to do for the keys since there is only one road leading from the keys to mainland and they have to act really early and we may have to get to that stage because there are so many planes that can land in San Pedro and so many boa!
ts that are available to leave, so we really have to take the time into consideration.



Fuller says a lot was learnt from the threat of Hurricane Emily:

Carlos Fuller:


And it was where actually we have to move people, move containers with food supplies and that was carried out; deploy the arm forces at the different locations and getting out the shelter managers. So all of these things we did exercise so it was a real life simulation and so I think we are ready for any other eventuality.



Carlos Fuller, Chief Meteorological Officer. Emily is moving toward the west-northwest near 17 miles per hour. This motion is expected to continue today with a gradual decrease in forward speed. Winds have decreased to near 75 miles per hour, but the storm is expected to rebuild its strength as it moves over the open waters of the Gulf.

Joined: Nov 2004
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The only problem with the keys getting the early evac's is some decide to stay until they see for sure they are going to get the hit and regret it when its to late to leave.Alot of times they block the road going back in until they access the damage and mark the houses that are condemned.This sometimes takes days and thats why some don't leave.Insurance in the states always said you had to secure your house from further damage in order for them to pay and after the cops pepper sprayed a man in front of his 3 kids that were trying to get back in to secure his home the insurance companies had to change their policy.

Joined: Jan 2003
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Personally I think everyone one involved from the bottom to the top and everywhere in between did a great job this weekend (especially Charlene.)

Joined: Oct 1999
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Marty Offline OP
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amen bro

Joined: Oct 2001
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There was almost a revolt here in SW Florida after Hurricane Charley. They closed off the barrier islands for 5 days following the category 4 hurricane. People were trying to get around the police roadblocks to get back. The cops used the excuse that the islands were unsafe, but they really did it according to a new post-hurricane plan. They did it to make their jobs easier. Technically, I don't think they had a legal/constitutional right to block people from accessing their own property, but once you have a safety issue that can be exploited as an excuse, the government won't hesitate to use it.

Of course, no one would want to interfere with hard working civil emergency recovery workers working in the tropical heat and humidity in 24 hour shifts - however, on the other hand, they took fresh from Iraq National Guard troops and stationed them at crossroads with M-16's. Somewhat excessive for this sleepy barrier island of a mostly gentrified retirement-aged demographic. Perhaps they were expecting a surge of revolutionaries seeking stockmarket gentry spoils? I don't think there is anyone here who could be singled out as a potential looter.

In any case, where I disagree with their policy is when the road has been cleared and made safe to a person's house and they are being restricted. Since Charley hit at the lowest point of the tourist season, there was no reason to not let the few people who were here back to houses that were cleared as safe. They were definitely implementing a master plan that had other motivations besides post-hurricane control. Because of this, many people said they will not evacuate next time.

This is supposed to be an intelligent democracy. Next time there's no legitimate reason why people can't be apprized of the clearing job and allowed back into safe areas as they are cleared. The mayor was voted out this last election.

Joined: Apr 2000
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This board is about Belize...

Joined: Nov 2004
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"suppose" to be is the key word. :rolleyes: I'm heading to Belize soon.

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 3,281
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Seeing it personally here in action, I think they did a magnificent job getting people off the island who wanted (or were advised) to go. And the mainland resorts did a great job of handling the quick influx of guests.

More rain today from this tropical depression than from Emily at all!


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