The first named system of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Alex, zipped through north-central Belize in a span of six to eight hours beginning just after 5:00 Saturday evening, June 26, after making a surprise leftward turn from its steady west-northwest track earlier in the day.
However, from all accounts, Belize did well in this “dry run,” especially since the watchful eyes of the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) and National Meteorological Service (NMS) had been monitoring the area of disturbed weather off the Honduras/Nicaragua border that eventually became Alex since last week.
After crossing Belize and south-central Mexico over the weekend, Alex re-emerged in the Gulf of Mexico today and is presently headed for the Texas coast. The Associated Press reported this evening that Alex had sustained winds of 60 miles per hour and is expected to make hurricane status by Tuesday.
The AP reported that a hurricane watch was in effect “from Baffin Bay, near Kingsville, down the Texas coast and into northern Mexico. A tropical storm watch extended from Baffin Bay north to Port O’Connor, on the tip of Matagorda Bay.”
It quoted a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Brownsville as saying Alex was projected to make landfall as a moderate to strong Category 1 hurricane and its projected path takes it close to the Mexico/U.S. border by Thursday. There are reports that British Petroleum (BP) might delay its project to mitigate the Deepwater Horizon oil spill because of the Alex threat.
On Friday evening, local newscasts reported that Belize was under a tropical storm watch for the entire coastline, with a tropical storm warning in effect for the Mexican coastline from Chetumal to Cancun. Moving at 12 miles per hour, Tropical Depression #1 was expected to make landfall late Saturday and punish Belize with rain and wind, but not much else.
Nevertheless, NEMO committees in San Pedro and Stann Creek were activated and Tourism Minister and Belize Rural South area representative Hon. Manuel Heredia, Jr., told 7 News that he advocated for those in low-lying areas on Ambergris Caye to move to higher ground, but that it was not necessary at the time to evacuate completely off the island.
Alex moved and strengthened through the night and by 6:00 a.m. Saturday, Acting Prime Minister Gaspar Vega (who was scheduled to leave Belize that day but was forced to cancel) issued a Phase III alert in respect of Alex, then centered at 17.0 degrees North latitude, 85.3 degrees West longitude, 200 miles east of Belize City and still moving west northwest, at 8 miles per hour.
With this declaration, Belizeans began to prepare. Belize City, under overcast skies for much of Friday night and Saturday morning, still looked very busy in the downtown area, and reports to Amandala were that tourists and residents of Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye were coming in due to the weather. Rain fell off and on through the morning, as the populace huddled close to the radio, awaiting new bulletins.
By 3:00 p.m. Alex had completed its westward turn and City residents were being advised to move to relatives in better houses from flood-prone areas. Corozal, Stann Creek and Toledo were also mobilizing, while Cayo was concerned about its rivers and passage ways that are prone to flooding. However, none of the major rivers south of the Belize River rose by more than a few inches as Alex bore down.
The 6:00 p.m. update read by Catherine Cumberbatch on KREM Radio indicated that the forward section of the storm had made it onto Belizean shores and the center of the storm was very near the coast. At this time, Belize City, Dangriga, Independence and Punta Gorda faced much of the rain and wind from Alex, whose top winds stood at 55 miles per hour.
The City Emergency Management Organization (CEMO) opened shelters at Excelsior High School on Fabers Road, where only two families took shelter, according to Mayor Zenaida Moya-Flowers on an appearance on LOVE FM around 7:00 Saturday night. Alex raced away toward the Yucatan Peninsula and the all-clear was given at around 2:00 a.m.
There is no indication yet of how much damage was sustained, but regular reports came in of downed trees and objects in the districts. Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) reported that apart from parts of San Pedro Town, the Western Highway and Burrell Boom, and villages in Orange Walk on Saturday and Belmopan on Sunday, electricity was maintained. BTL and BWS reported no major problems.
Alex came relatively early for a storm in Belize’s history with hurricanes. It was the first major system to hit Belize since the double strike from Tropical Storm Arthur and T.D. #16 in 2008.