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Hurricane Lisa Hits Belize Near Main Port, Uprooting Trees

by Reuters

   BELIZE CITY --

   Hurricane Lisa bore down on Belize on Wednesday, yanking out trees,
   toppling electric poles and causing scattered blackouts in the
   Caribbean nation, but there were no immediate reports of deaths or
   major damage.

   "It is a scary experience," said Angelica Escalante, who works in Sand
   Hill, just outside Belize City, and expressed concern about her
   neighbors' homes. "Their roofs might not be strong enough for this
   weather."

   Some roofs did sustain damage, and flooding to bungalows was also
   visible, but local officials had yet to quantify the impact from the
   storm.

   The eye of Lisa, a Category 1 hurricane, churned 32 kilometers west of
   Belize City, the tiny country's main commercial port, weakening
   somewhat as it made landfall. Its extended reach packed maximum
   sustained winds of 120 kph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC)
   said in its latest report.

   The center forecast rapid weakening as Lisa moved further inland, but
   steady rainfall and the potential for widespread flooding still posed
   significant dangers.

   NHC predicted that after Lisa moved over sparsely populated Belize, its
   strong winds and heavy rains would slowly cross the jungles of northern
   Guatemala and southeastern Mexico, home to ancient Maya ruins and beach
   resorts.

   Weather models over the next couple of days showed Lisa on a path to
   reach the southern Gulf of Mexico's Bay of Campeche, where major
   offshore drilling rigs operated by national oil company Pemex are
   located. The models, however, showed a weakened storm system once it
   reached the area.

   The NHC said Lisa was moving west at 19 kph and that a powerful storm
   surge could lift tides about 1 to 2 meters above normal levels.

   The Belize government's emergency services announced on Wednesday
   afternoon a state of emergency, including a curfew across two districts
   covering large swaths of its Caribbean coast through Thursday.
   Officials advised people living in vulnerable areas to move to
   shelters, adding that border crossings, ports and airports were also
   ordered closed.

   President Alejandro Giammattei of neighboring Guatemala told a news
   conference that food rations were being sent to vulnerable areas.

   Giammattei added that damage was expected in Guatemala's Maya biosphere
   reserve, a stretch of protected rainforest home to rich fauna and major
   archeological sites.

   Guatemala's disaster agency Conred said earlier that floods had hit
   Melchor de Menchos, the main border crossing with Belize, affecting 95
   people and inflicting "moderate damage" on some homes.

   Honduras fire chief Wilmer Guerrero said Lisa had not caused damage
   when it passed over Honduras' Bay Islands, while its largest island,
   Roatan, suspended a state of emergency there.

   The NHC also warned of hurricane conditions between the Mexican border
   city of Chetumal and Costa Maya, one of the country's most popular
   cruise ports, though its tropical storm warning did not stretch as far
   north to the popular beach resort of Tulum.