Archive
The Eye of Iris |
2001:Hurricane
Iris |
Saturday,
January 19, 2002
Updates on Placencia
reconstruction after Hurricane Iris will now be included on our regular News
Page.
Sunday, January
12, 2002
Cozy Corners reopened
last week, and most residences now have water (although the pressure remains a problem -
almost all hotels have installed pressure pumps, so guests have the benefit of plentiful
hot water for showers). Ranguana Lodge should have three cabanas ready by January 20
or so. Miller's Landing is busy installing its new pool to replace the one destroyed
by Iris. Omar is rebuilding his old restaurant, and adding a second story with
rental rooms. Two units have been completely restored at Easy Living Apartments, and
the third is almost complete.
A Placencia Village
clean-up is scheduled for January 19 to remove debris, cut down dead trees and plant new
trees donated by the Belize government.
BEL has almost all
electric service restored, and BTL has installed a few more phones. However, most
people still don't have land-line phone service and the cell service continues to fall far
short of anything resembling a decent communication system.
Monday, December
24, 2001
Most hotels and
resorts now have full water and electric service. Most homes have electric, but
availability of water is still hit and miss. Meter availability is a problem and new
leaks keep surfacing.
Speculation is that
BTL does not plan to restore full phone service to Placencia because BTL's monopoly ends
in December 2002. A visitor from a US telecommunications company told us that
Guatemala has just finished installing fiber optic lines throughout the country and could
easily extend the same service throughout Belize, but BTL has shown no interest.
(BTL profits last year were $48 Million, by the way - Belize only has 220,000 residents -
do the math.)
Vegetation is growing
rapidly - hibiscus, frangipani and bougainvillea are now in full bloom.
Occupancy rates in
Placencia Village are high throughout the Christmas/New Year's holiday season.
Sunday, December
9, 2001
Maybe no regular
phone service until July!!!!! However, there will be some temporary lines on the Peninsula
and business owners will get fixed cells. But please, everyone be patient with
getting replies to emails -- it may take awhile under these conditions.
Monday, November
26, 2001
Water service may be
restored by the end of this week! However, phone service may not be available until
February!!!!!!! BTL says that's because it's installing new service. Query:
how can installing phone lines on a 9-mile long, very narrow Peninsula with fewer
than 1200 residents (not even 1200 households) take 3 months?
Thursday,
November 22, 2001
Looks like water
service may be restored sooner than anticipated. Welding of the pipe for the Lagoon
should be completed today or tomorrow, the main water line has already been repaired and
tested, and lines to houses and residences are now being installed. The Placencia
Water Board is hoping to turn on the water around December 10. Most everyone now has
electricity and a few business telephone lines have been installed (tourist center, bank,
NEMO, BJs, Wallen's Hardware and Grocery and the Internet Cafe (which now also has
Internet service available). See
for information on local businessses.
Tuesday,
November 13, 2001
Pipes for the line
under the Lagoon have arrived in Placencia. However, we are now waiting for
specialized welders to work on welding the pipeline. Most everyone has electricity
now, and cable is even being reinstalled! No word yet on when phone lines will be
ready - not much evidence of BTL around. The Belize Defense Force contingency will
leave the area Friday. Residents of Monkey River Town are getting lots of housing
help -- unfortunately not true in Placencia.
Kitty's is now
officially open, as is Robert's Grove. Luba Hati and the Purple Space Monkey expect
to open on Monday.
Still lots of
clearing and clean-up work to do.
Placencia Village
school re-opened Monday (Seine Bight school re-opened about two weeks ago. Regular
garbage pickup has resumed.
Thursday,
November 1, 2001
New water pipes are
being laid in the Placencia Village (starting at the southern end of the sidewalk). It
will be slow going with all the debris still around, but the sight of those back hoes sure
was welcome. Norman and Jodie tell me that Sea Spray's rebuilding of its cabana and
2-story building will be finished by December 1. A load of cement block was
delivered to J-Byrd's yesterday. The Internet Cafe will start re-thatching its roof
on Monday. The walls of 2 new cabanas are up at Turtle Inn. Most of the debris
behind Serenade and on its side to the north is gone. Sunrise was being dismantled
yesterday. Ranguana Caye's owner is on his way to Placencia to start rebuilding the
one cabana on the Caye destroyed by Iris. Street lights are up around the ballfield.
The debris around the water tower is steadily being cleared, and is almost gone
now.
No new home building
taking place as yet. DFC is offering 8.5%, 20 year mortgage loans for rebuilding of
homes. However, the loans don't apply to the purchase of land. Commercial loans are
available at 13% per annum, but must be secured with real property collateral.
Monday, October
29, 2001
Some businesses and
residences have already had electricity restored (primarily in the area of BJ's and the
Internet Cafe, plus a few resorts such as Serenity which is housing emergency services
employees). Hurray! Some phone service should soon follow.
Rain has hampered
clean-up efforts for the last couple of days.
Lots of people having
problems with very low insurance company settlement offers - both for residences and
businesses.
Wallen's Grocery is
now open from 8 a.m. - Noon daily (although yesterday the store stayed open through the
lunch hour). Wallen's Hardware has also now re-opened with restricted hours.
Olga's Grocery has resumed regular business hours and Verly's (Placencia Grocery) is open
on a somewhat erratic schedule.
Seeing lots of new
growth on area trees that weren't completely killed by saltwater innudation. Plus,
the hibiscus seem to have thrived with the infusion of salt.
Residential housing still remains a
problem.
Wednesday,
October 24, 2001
Still no firm date on
when utilities to most of the Peninsula will be restored. However, water to
Placencia and Seine Bight Villages is not expected to be fully restored until some time
around Christmas. BEL, doing a heroic job, expects to start hooking up some
businesses by the end of this week. Not much information from BTL, but they can't
really do anything until electric is in. (We would like more Internet connections, though
-- plus a jack to plug in laptops -- which would eliminate the need for another full
computer station - - if anyone is listening.)
The 6 p.m. until 6
a.m. curfew continues, as does the alcohol prohibition which could be lifted by late next
week (as least partially). Janice Leslie has already started rebuilding J-Byrd's Bar
(don't know the status of Tradewinds). With the exception of a new thatch roof, the
Purple Space Monkey is almost renovated. Eddie Leslie plans to rebuild 3 of his
cabanas at Ranguana Lodge, plus add two new ones.
NEMO (National
Emergency Management Organization) plans to leave the area toward the end of the week, and
the BDF (Belize Defense Force) will probably pull out next week.
The Belize National
Health Department is constantly in the area assessing possible public health threat
issues. Housing for the homeless remains a serious issue.
Slowly, but surely .
. .
Monday, October
22, 2001
Clean-up work
continues, especially in the area between Serenade and BTL on the Placencia Village
sidewalk, the main road and two easement areas running between the road and the sidewalk
where new underground utility lines will be located.
Yesterday, Tropic Air
sponsored a much-welcomed barbecue on the Peninsula Point (Tradewinds property).
Friends, family and neighbors were able to get together, eat some really good barbecued
chicken, slaw and beans, watch a friendly BDF/Village volleyball game, and just generally
relax.
Update on properties: The Pickled Parrot Restaurant structure in
Placencia Village is pretty much ok, contrary to the earlier report. Easy Living
Apartments will re-open in December, around Christmas. Turtle Inn will not re-open
until March, 2002. Maya Beach Hotel has closed. Barnacle Bill's in Maya Beach
will re-open sometime around Thanksgiving.
Needs:
Immediate needs for
area residents include:
Personal and
household items such as tweezers, clothes pins, clothes line, tupperware, batteries,
flashlights, hurricane lanterns, portable radios, bedding, pots and pans, cooking and
eating utensils, towels and wash cloths. Donations can be sent to Graham Cabral,
Treasurer, Placencia Village Council, General Delivery, Placencia, Belize.
Bicycles and
bicycle repair items (inner tubes, patches). Donations to Graham Cabral, Treasurer,
Placencia Village Council, General Delivery, Placencia, Belize.
Sleeping bags, foam
pads, pillows, tents. Donations to Graham Cabral, Treasurer, Placencia Village
Council, General Delivery, Placencia, Belize.
Building supplies
such as plywood, zinc for roofs, hammers, nails, power tools. Donations to Graham
Cabral, Treasurer, Placencia Village Council, General Delivery, Placencia, Belize.
Books, writing
materials, toys, learning activities for pre-schoolers and monetary donations to rebuild
the pre-school (the pre-school and all supplies were completely destroyed).
Donations can be sent to Lee Nyhus, Board of Directors, Placencia Pre-School, General
Delivery, Placencia, Belize. Marilyn Beckstead is in the process of forming a
Canadian not-for-profit foundation to raise funds for schools in southern Belize.
Marilyn can be reached at m.beckstead@sympatico.ca
The biggest long-term
need is donations to help house the neediest residents, most of whom are now homeless.
The Placencia and Seine Bight Village Councils and the national government are in
the process of finalizing a housing plan that will include building permits and standards,
occupancy inspections and certified building contractors. We will provide further
information as it becomes available.
Deaths. Miles Patrick, Rum Point's chef, died
unexpectedly on Friday night. Cause of death is unknown, but a coronary failure is
suspected. Luke DeSilva, park ranger for Friends of Laughing Bird Caye, also died
Friday in a free-diving accident. Our heartfelt condolences to their friends and
families.
Friday, October 19, 2001
At least I think it's Friday.
The last two weeks have melded into one blur of rain, wind, heat, dirt, sweat and
tears. Best I can gather, Placencia Village, Independence Village, Monkey River and
Big Creek took almost the full brunt of Iris, and we've lost about 95% of our homes and
businesses in Placencia Village. I probably won't get to Independence in the
forseeable future, but I understand conditions there are not very good.
The areas north of the Placencia
Village fared better, although Seine Bight was also very hard hit. Many of the area
resorts fared reasonably well and several resorts will soon be
open for business.
We have suffered devastation, we
won't kid you about that. But, we are also very blessed because we still have our
friends and families to help us through this very hard time. However, our hearts and
our prayers are with the families of the people lost in the Wave Dancer tragedy. The
Mayan villages in Toledo are also on our prayer list and we fervently hope they get all
the help that they need.
Although the homes of most of the
Placencia area's employees and professional guides were damaged or destroyed, we are very
eager to get on with our lives and welcome visitors. We still have great fishing,
snorkeling, kayaking and wonderful people - so please visit us and help us rebuild by
letting us show you our paradise - because it IS still our paradise.
--------
It's rather hard to describe what
is left of Placencia Village, and my concentration ain't so good of late, so there may be
some inaccuracies in the following report. My apologies in advance for any and all
errors.
With the exceptions of Sea Spray
and Westwind, all of the beachfront hotels north of the dock are gone, including Sonny's,
Tradewinds, Coconut Cottages, Julia's, Dutch Treat and Ranguana Lodge. I haven't
personally seen them, but have been told that Harry's Cabanas and Paradise Hotel south of
the dock are in decent shape. All of the cabanas at Soulshine are gone, and the
Tourist Trap is basically a shell without a roof.
Only a few houses remain on the
beach, including the Anglican rectory, Toucan Lulu's rental house, Rodwell Williams'
residence, the old Bishop's house (locally referred to as the Haunted House), Stefano and
Nicoletta's place and the house in front of it, the cement block house under construction,
and one or two more that I'm probably forgetting. Gone are Dutch Treat, the
residences of George Cowdrey, Robert Nicolait, Dean Barrow and many, many others.
Remarkably, the judge's house was barely damaged, without even any missing boards in its
dock on the Caribbean Sea.
All that remains of Cozy Corners
and DeTatch Restaurant are concrete slabs. Dockside and Tentacles were destroyed,
but Merlene's wasn't too badly damaged. Omar's main building ended up in front of
the school. Rasta Pasta and Pickled Parrot are no more. BJ's escaped with very
little damage, but the Galley lost its roof and sustained a good amount of water damage.
Jake's Purple Space Monkey Internet Cafe lost its thatch, but the basic structure
is ok, and the kitchen has very little damage. Kowloon was knocked off its
foundation and the owners are in California, so we don't know what shape the interior is
in. Haven't yet seen Daisy's.
Serenade sheltered many of the
people who didn't evacuate and looks in reasonably good shape. Tipsy Tuna does not
appear to have much damage. D&L is still standing and Jodie and Norman Leslie's
family are living in the upper floor unit.
Nite Moves on the Lagoon side
looks ok. J-Byrd's new addition is gone, so the bar looks much as it did
pre-renovations. Bella Beach is gone.
Miss Lydia's buildings fared well,
and Miss Lucille's Traveler's Inn is still standing, as is Miss Sonja's place.
Lagoon Saloon (now Sugar Reef) escaped any major damage.
Shakey is A-OK and picking up trash
in his one remaining wheelbarrows (which he found just a few days ago - he hasn't yet
recovered the other wheelbarrow in his fleet).
All or substantially all of the
structures on Morris Caye, French Louis Caye, Pompion Caye, Whippari Caye and Little Water
Caye were destroyed. Amazingly, Ranguana lost only the eastern cabana, and most
everything else is in good shape there.
Olga's opened just a few days
after the Hurricane, and Wallen's Grocery opened up on Monday, with limited hours of 8
a.m. - Noon. PBS is open and getting regular shipments of building materials.
Wallen's Hardware hadn't yet opened as of Wednesday, October 17, 2001.
Carol's Cabanas are standing but
have water damage. Barracuda & Jaguar Inn cabanas were severely damaged.
Deb and Dave's Last Resort was pushed off its foundation when the house in front of it hit
it, but Deb and Dave's main building is pretty much ok. Verly's new apartments are
in decent shape, but the Easy Living Apartments were not so lucky. Only the pilings
remain of Denys Barrow's rental house on the sidewalk. Lee and Japs are
temporarily living in Lee's "Secret Garden" rental house (their house was leaning
precipitously until repair on Wednesday, but still has no roof).
At the dock, Shell Gas Station,
Atlantic Bank, the Tourist Center and the Co-op are ok. The old dive shop lost its
upper floor. The post office has been moved to the Tourist Center (which is now the
general information center).
Dr. DeShield will be in Placencia
on Saturday, October 20, 2001 for emergency veterinary services and to euthanize homeless
animals.
British soldiers are in Placencia
Village with heavy equipment to remove rubble. I was told they are also in Seine
Bight Village but I haven't been there since last Tuesday.
NEMO is doing a good job
coordinating distribution of food, clothing and construction equipment. The police
have stopped early looting, and several looters have been arrested.
So far, emergency medical care has
been adequate/good.
Maya Island Air lost its office and
has set up trailers for its staff. Maya passengers are welcome to use the Tropic Air
facilities. (The new building lost its roof, but Tropic quickly replaced it.)
Both airlines have resumed regular service.
The road is in about the same
condition as always, but the little remaining pavement is now almost all gone, and a good
deal of sand is on the road around Turtle Inn.
BEL is working very hard to
restore at least some electrical service to the Peninsula. BTL's building was
damaged, but BTL has constructed a small temporary space behind the main building and
installed a bank of pay phones there (operating on microwave they tell us). BTL also
has a couple of Internet connections, but the lines are very long, so don't expect any
immediate responses to emails.
Quick restoration of water service
sounds problematic. The portion of the water line under the Lagoon is basically gone
and will need complete replacement. Whether that will take 3 weeks or 3 months is
anyone's guess.
Pictures. The picture page will be very slow loading
because I haven't had time to work with them, so please be patient.
Mary
Monday, October 8, 2001
Hurricane Iris. Placencia is under evacuation. Weather
here right now is overcast with a light breeze. I'll be leaving in another couple of
hours and still need to pack and get the house as secured as possible, so no more reports
for at least a few days. Please pray for us. |
