Hurricane season 2010 started on June 1st and promised to be one of the most active in recent years. With twenty names listed: Alex, Bonnie, Collin, Danielle, Earl, Fiona Gaston, Hermine, Igor, Julia, Karl, Lisa, Matthew, Nicole, Otto, Paula, Richard, Sharry, Thomas, Virginie and Walter, hurricane season 2010 was well underway. For us here in Belize, the threats didn’t start until September 14th.
What started off as an area of interest, I92L out in the Caribbean, moved westward and reached tropical storm status “Tropical Storm Karl” late Tuesday afternoon, September 14th. At about 7:30am on Wednesday September 15th, the center of tropical storm Karl made landfall just north of the country of Belize, passing through and going towards Chetumal, Mexico with maximum sustained winds of about 45 mph. The extent of the tropical storm covered the area between San Pedro and Belize City, covering the Orange Walk and Corozal Districts and northward over the Yucatan Peninsula.
This was the first threat that placed the country on high alert and even made landfall.
This was followed shortly after by Matthew and Richard. Hurricane Richard was the 17th named storm and the 10th hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season.
Richard developed from an area of low pressure that stalled in the Caribbean Sea in mid-October. It slowly organized and was declared a tropical storm and given the name Richard on October 20th 2010. At around 5:40pm on October 24th, Hurricane Richard made landfall about 20 miles south-southeast of Belize City at peak intensity with wind gusts of about 90-100mph.
Through all these threats and in some cases, hurricanes, the National Emergency Management Organization NEMO and its various sub bodies, including the members of the Emergency Operating Committee were instrumental in maintaining order and keeping residents of both islands safe.
Miss Jeromey Timrose Augustine, DEC District Emergency Co-ordinator for Belize Rural south which includes San Pedro and Caye Caulker, will be hosting a final meeting for the hurricane season 2010. The meeting is scheduled for Friday November 26th at 2:00pm. The purpose of this meeting is to officially close the hurricane season as well as issue Certificates of Appreciation and awards to outstanding chair persons and members of the Emergency Operating Committee EOC that have supported NEMO throughout the Hurricane Season.
The San Pedro Sun congratulates all members of NEMO, the EOC, Public Servants as well as volunteers that worked tirelessly throughout all the threats that we faced in the past months, to keep us all informed and safe
