Tropic Wave Pounds Orange Walk with Heavy Rain

It was a dramatic end to the week in the north, as torrential rains turned the Orange Walk District into a scene of chaos and concern. Two tropical waves swept across Belize, but it was Friday’s system that really packed a punch, dumping up to thirteen inches of rain in just a few hours. Streets became rivers, cars were stranded, and many residents found themselves stuck on their way home from work. The images and videos that surfaced were nothing short of alarming. Tonight, we hear from Chief Meteorologist Ronald Gordon, who breaks down just how much rain fell—and why it happened so fast.

 

Ronald Gordon, Chief Met Officer, National Met Service

“In terms of amounts, I should mention we had very significant amounts of rainfall over the Orange Walk Districts. We can focus on two station, one in Tower Hill which we recorded Wednesday and Saturday, about three hundred and thirty millimeters of rainfall. That amounts to about twelve inches of rainfall and also at Douglas, north of there, we recorded three hundred and twenty-one millimeters of rainfall, which is about twelve, almost thirteen inches of rainfall in that area. Most of that rainfall occurred on Friday last week and Saturday morning early. In a short span of time we had significant rainfall in those areas and that contributed the flooding we saw in those locations.”