| Tropical Storm Ida Threatens Belize |
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| Written by Administrator |
| Thursday, 05 November 2009 14:38 |
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The storm which on Wednesday night was packing winds of up to 60 miles an hour is not yet a threat to Belize, but the projected path has it making its way to the northern tip of Corozal by Sunday evening. Though the storm is yet to make landfall and is not immediately a threat to the country, the National Emergency Management Organization has been mobilized. NEMO has been activated in the south of the country in the Toledo and Stann Creek districts. Colonel George Lovell, CEO in charge of NEMO, told the Guardian that on Wednesday at 4:00p.m. “We had a meeting of the operational chairpersons who are now alert and they have also been tasked to make necessary preparations.” He says that if Ida should go into land and back into the Gulf of Honduras “we will be prepared to deal with whatever eventuality that should arise”.For now Lovell says NEMO is looking at the southern part of the country that is normally susceptible to flooding and will be making final preparations for any eventuality between Thursday and Friday. Key he says is that the system reminds NEMO of Hurricane Mitch where if it comes over land and goes out into the Caribbean it will be right in front of Belize. Because of that, Lovell advises people who are out in the Turneffe area and other atolls to make their way into the mainland as weather conditions will make it extremely difficult for people to make it safely into mainland in the event that the storm is out at sea. |
At press time Tropical Storm Ida, which formed off the coast of Nicaragua on Wednesday evening, was making its way toward the coast of Nicaragua with a projected North West path.