Hurricane Season

As many of you may know, Peace Corps develops Emergency Action Plans (EAP) for each country that outlines what to do in a variety of safety and security situations. Last year while I was still in Burkina there were several terrorist threats and volunteers from several parts of the country had to be evacuated from their sites. I never worried or felt unsafe since I know my community was always watching out for me and Peace Corps had plans in place to take care of us and get us out of the country if needed. Since I left Burkina, there has been much greater safety and security concerns and many volunteers have been evacuated and/or put on standfast repeatedly since February. I don't want to go into the details about everything thats going on there but its basically been a lot of political instability with riots and protests against the government and current president. What I'm really trying to explain is that I was aware of potential problems in Burkina Faso and I felt very safe knowing that Peace Corps was taking care of us.

When I arrived in Belize five months ago, I had to go through a short training to inform me of differences between Burkina and Belize. One thing that really stuck out was my talk with the Belize Safety and Security Coordinator. We went through the EAP and I realized the biggest concern was hurricanes and floods. There was very low threat of terrorist activities or political instability like we faced in Burkina but a very high threat of natural disasters. I guess anywhere you go there are safety concerns; I find it interesting to see how different they can be!

June 1 is the official beginning of hurricane season and the day brought the first rain to Dangriga in a while with both morning and evening storms. For the next five months, Peace Corps Volunteers are supposed to be prepared for potential storms and the possibility of evacuation. Last year volunteers were consolidated (everyone brought together in Belmopan, away from the coast) five times I think because of potential storms. A category one hurricane did hit Belize and caused some damage but this was just a small storm. There is a lot of talk now about this hurricane season being a bad one. I've heard a couple different reasons. Someone told me this is an El Nino year meaning the weather patterns are set for potentially bad storms. Others have said that we should expect a larger number and more powerful storms. The most interesting reason I heard was that all of the worst hurricanes in Belize have hit in September of years ending in 1. It is 2011 so we'll see what happens this fall!

I heard the first potential storm is being watched near Jamaica already so I guess its time to pack my hurricane bucket. Thats right, Peace Corps Volunteers are required to prepare for any potential storms by putting together a hurricane bucket. We need to get a five gallon bucket called a pigtail bucket here since thats what usually comes in them! Pigtails are imported from the US where they are considered garbage but are a part of the traditional cuisine here. We're expected to have non-perishable foods, water, flashlight, clothes, money, and our passports ready to take with us when we get the call to consolidate.

I'm not sharing this with all of you because I'm really scared or to make you nervous; Peace Corps will get us out way before a storm gets close. I just find it fascinating and want to share what my life is like here in Belize. It seems that hurricanes are a big part of life here and there are lots of plans in place in case the big one hits. Every town throughout the country has developed a hurricane plan and most have hurricane shelters. Families know where they will evacuate to and are prepared to do this a few times each year.

Besides hurricanes, there are other big concerns during the rainy season. Flash floods are common and many rivers become impassable after a storm. A bridge on the main road south was washed out several years and now there is no way to travel north when the river becomes swollen. Travel becomes much more difficult from now until November. We faced many of these same issues in Burkina but I think they get a lot more rain here so the problems are multiplied.

I, of course, will update all of you of the situation in Belize. We'll see what the season brings. I'm looking forward to the rains putting out the many forest fires raging currently and cutting down on the dust on the road. Its also nice to get a break from the heat when a storm rolls through. Welcome to life in the tropics!