Between Wednesday and Saturday, over 12 inches of rain were recorded in the Orange Walk District.
by Charles Gladden
ORANGE WALK, Mon. June 30, 2025
Villagers in the Orange Walk District have had to contend with severe flooding that resulted from heavy rainfall that occurred in the latter part of last week, particularly late Friday evening, June 27.
“We started, I would say, around Wednesday, when we had a tropical wave across the country; and then that was followed by another tropical wave on Friday, which was more active,” said Ronald Gordon, Chief Meteorologist at the National Meteorological Service.
“The bulk of the rainfall was on Friday, Friday night into Saturday morning, and by mid-morning on Saturday, conditions began to improve over most of the country; and that has been so for the rest of the weekend into today, Monday,” he added.
This rainfall affected villages such as Yo Creek, Guinea Grass, Santa Martha, San Ramon, San Jose, San Antonio, and August Pine Ridge, preventing motorists from entering and exiting those villages due to the roads being inundated.
According to Gordon, over 20 inches of rain were recorded between Wednesday and Saturday.
“In terms of amounts, we had a significant amount of rainfall in the Orange Walk District. I could focus on two stations: Tower Hill, where we recorded between Wednesday and Saturday, 330 millimeters of rainfall, which converts to [over] 12 inches of rainfall. Also, in Douglas, which is north, we recorded 321 millimeters of rainfall, which is [almost] 13 inches of rainfall in that particular area. Based on the analysis that we have seen, most of that rainfall occurred on Friday last week and again on early Saturday morning. So, in a very short time, we had significant rainfall in those areas, which contributed to the flooding in those locations,” he explained.
The rainfall—roughly 1 foot of it—destroyed property and livestock, and forced residents to seek refuge at the nearest National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) shelters.
“Overall, 54 persons from Trial Farm and San Pablo were housed in emergency shelters, and these were open as of Friday night. As of this morning, most of those seeking shelter have returned home, as conditions have improved, and most roads are now passable. However, there are still 26 people at the San Pablo Community Center who continue to receive support from NEMO,” said Daniel Mendez, NEMO’s National Emergency Coordinator.
In the wake of the heavy rainfall, NEMO is conducting a damage assessment to gather data on what was lost or destroyed by the severe weather, and that assessment will be completed in the upcoming days. Also, NEMO has been assisting needy persons.