June 10, 2008
BELIZE DIARY: Tropical Storm Arthur Losses Top $26 Million
By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net
Belmopan, Belize (HNN) -- You don't have to have a full-scale hurricane to have substantial damage to a small developing nation like Belize: An initial assessment of the damage caused in Belize by the first tropical storm of the Atlantic Hurricane season has estimated losses of BEL$52 million (US$26.5 million).
The news site www.Caribbean360.com, which provides excellent news coverage of the Caribbean, noted Monday, June 9 that Tropical Storm Arthur, which claimed five lives, also destroyed three bridges, seriously damaged another as well as sections of a main highway, washed out a number of major roads, and wiped out a significant amount of the country's crops.
Preliminary figures released by government's Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis (DANA) indicated that in the wake of the flooding caused by the system, 40 communities in the north, south and central areas of the country were impacted.
Noreen Fairweather (I'm not making this name up!), Belize's Commissioner of Lands and Surveys Department, said that government would have to spend more than BEL$20.75 million (US$10.58 million) to repair and replace bridges and roads which were completely washed out.
One of the biggest bridges, a ferroconcreate bridge on the Southern Highway at Kendal in Stann Creek District, was washed away, effectively cutting the Massachusetts sized nation in half. The Southern Highway is the only land link between the northern part of the nation and the southern districts of Stann Creek and Toledo.
Fairweather said Belize's agriculture sector took a beating from the storm.
"The total loss right across the board - banana, rice, citrus, [sugar] cane, other crops...livestock and other processed products - the preliminary estimate is just over BEL$14.2 million (US$7.2 million)," Fairweather said.
She added that about BEL$9 million (US$4.59 million) in damage was done to the citrus crop alone.
"Fortunately, about 75 per cent of the crops were already harvested from citrus. From the 25 per cent or so that were still in the fields, we estimate a five per cent loss of the crops," Fairweather said.
It is estimated that the rice crop took a BEL$1.7 million (US$867,479) blow; the sugar cane crop suffered a BEL$1.6 million loss; the banana industry took a BEL$2.3 million (US$1.17 million) hit; while the losses in smaller crops, livestock, and processed products accounted for another BEL$437, 000 (US$222,993).
According to Fairweather, fisheries production and equipment also suffered over BEL$9 million (US$4.59 million) in losses.
Arthur -- along with the Pacific Tropical Storm Alma which preceded it -- also caused also significant damage to homes across the country, Fairweather added.
"In housing, the affected buildings, destroyed buildings and damage to household items were significant because while the physical structure might be there, those families basically lost most, if not all, of their household items and that tallied up to just over BEL$4.5 million (US$2.29 million). The total direct cost for the housing sector is BEL$7.2 million (US$3.67 million)," she said.
The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) said that relief efforts are continuing in cooperation with the Belize Red Cross and other humanitarian agencies, but revealed that cases of conjunctivitis, fever and diarrhea, have been reported in some of the affected areas.
E-mail HNN Yahoo Google
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
BELIZE DIARY: Tropical Storm Arthur Losses Top $26 Million
By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net
Belmopan, Belize (HNN) -- You don't have to have a full-scale hurricane to have substantial damage to a small developing nation like Belize: An initial assessment of the damage caused in Belize by the first tropical storm of the Atlantic Hurricane season has estimated losses of BEL$52 million (US$26.5 million).
The news site www.Caribbean360.com, which provides excellent news coverage of the Caribbean, noted Monday, June 9 that Tropical Storm Arthur, which claimed five lives, also destroyed three bridges, seriously damaged another as well as sections of a main highway, washed out a number of major roads, and wiped out a significant amount of the country's crops.
Preliminary figures released by government's Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis (DANA) indicated that in the wake of the flooding caused by the system, 40 communities in the north, south and central areas of the country were impacted.
Noreen Fairweather (I'm not making this name up!), Belize's Commissioner of Lands and Surveys Department, said that government would have to spend more than BEL$20.75 million (US$10.58 million) to repair and replace bridges and roads which were completely washed out.
One of the biggest bridges, a ferroconcreate bridge on the Southern Highway at Kendal in Stann Creek District, was washed away, effectively cutting the Massachusetts sized nation in half. The Southern Highway is the only land link between the northern part of the nation and the southern districts of Stann Creek and Toledo.
Fairweather said Belize's agriculture sector took a beating from the storm.
"The total loss right across the board - banana, rice, citrus, [sugar] cane, other crops...livestock and other processed products - the preliminary estimate is just over BEL$14.2 million (US$7.2 million)," Fairweather said.
She added that about BEL$9 million (US$4.59 million) in damage was done to the citrus crop alone.
"Fortunately, about 75 per cent of the crops were already harvested from citrus. From the 25 per cent or so that were still in the fields, we estimate a five per cent loss of the crops," Fairweather said.
It is estimated that the rice crop took a BEL$1.7 million (US$867,479) blow; the sugar cane crop suffered a BEL$1.6 million loss; the banana industry took a BEL$2.3 million (US$1.17 million) hit; while the losses in smaller crops, livestock, and processed products accounted for another BEL$437, 000 (US$222,993).
According to Fairweather, fisheries production and equipment also suffered over BEL$9 million (US$4.59 million) in losses.
Arthur -- along with the Pacific Tropical Storm Alma which preceded it -- also caused also significant damage to homes across the country, Fairweather added.
"In housing, the affected buildings, destroyed buildings and damage to household items were significant because while the physical structure might be there, those families basically lost most, if not all, of their household items and that tallied up to just over BEL$4.5 million (US$2.29 million). The total direct cost for the housing sector is BEL$7.2 million (US$3.67 million)," she said.
The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) said that relief efforts are continuing in cooperation with the Belize Red Cross and other humanitarian agencies, but revealed that cases of conjunctivitis, fever and diarrhea, have been reported in some of the affected areas.
E-mail HNN Yahoo Google
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
