The National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) and the National Meteorological Service of Belize have declared Phase II and a Tropical Storm Warning have been issued for the entire country of Belize as Tropical Storm Ernesto nears hurricane strength.
The Belize Rural South NEMO headquarter has issued its first Advisory on the storm and as of 9:00 a.m. this morning the following was there report:
Location: 15.8N 80.5W
Maximum sustained winds: 65 MPH
Present Movement: West north West at 9 MPH
East South East of Belize 505 Miles
Tropical force winds extend outwards up to a 125 Miles.
San Pedro & Caye Caulker EOC advises the following:
All residents of Belize Rural South including all surrounding cayes are advised of the following:
1. Make all necessary preparations that follows your hurricane plans and take heed of all warnings.
For all the residents of San Pedro and Caye Caulker:
All residents of San Mateo, San Pedrito, Elliot Subdivision, DFC Area, are advised to make necessary preparations for the following:
For the residents of Bahia Puesta del Sol and any other low-lying areas in Caye Caulker, you are advised to make the necessary preparations such as:
1. Voluntary Evacuation
2. All evacuees are hereby reminded that you must have a three day supply of rations and that includes: Sanitary items, water and food, Medicine supplies, flashlights with batteries, your own sleeping items, and so forth.
3. All boat owners are advised to start moving their boats to safe harbor (Lagoon side)
4. Stay on the alert and monitor the weather conditions and listen to the weather updates. Furthermore, The Belize Port Authority will inform the public on the closure of all ports.
People in the outer Cayes: Turneffe, Glover’s Reef, Light House, Halfmoon Caye, Sand Bore Caye, Northern 2 Caye, North East, South West and Middle Caye and outer Atolls need to heed the warnings issued by NEMO and make necessary preparations to move in land. People who would like to leave voluntarily from the Cayes are encouraged to do so.
People living in areas that normally flood need to move to a dry and safe building area and bring along their food and water.
Stay Tuned for further advisories from NEMO and the National Meteorological Service.
Forecast for Ernesto by Jeff Masters Weather Underground
Now that Ernesto has slowed down in response to a trough of low pressure passing to the north, continued steady intensification appears likely. While wind shear is expected to remain in the moderate range the next two days, Ernesto is over warm ocean waters of 28°C with very high heat content, and rapid intensification to a Category 2 hurricane is possible today. The 8 am EDT SHIPS model forecast predicts a 26% chance of rapid intensification–a 30 mph increase in winds over a 24-hour period. The main obstacle to intensification will probably be proximity to land, as the center of Ernesto is likely to pass very close to the coast of Honduras late Monday night. This will put a portion of the storm’s circulation over land, limiting intensification potential.
The winds this Monday morning at Puerto Lempira on the northeast coast of Honduras have not yet begun to increase, but will begin to rise this afternoon and peak near midnight tonight. High winds and heavy rains will spread westwards along the coast of Honduras early Tuesday morning, and reach coastal Belize near 2 pm Tuesday. If Ernesto survives its crossing of the Yucatan Peninsula, the potential exists for it to re-strengthen over the Bay of Campeche, and make a second landfall on Mexico’s coast Thursday night south of Veracruz. However, most of the computer models predict that Ernesto will pop out so far south in the Bay of Campeche that the storm will have less than 24 hours over water.
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Latest Update as of Midday Today, August 6, 2012
NEMO Public Advisory # 5
TROPICAL STORM ERNESTO
Time: 12:00 midday
Location: 16.2n 81.1w And East South East Of Belize 483 Miles
Tropical force winds extend outwards up to 125 miles from the center
Maximum Sustained Winds: 65 MPH
Present Movement: West North West at 12 MPH
NEMO hereby notifies ALL employers that they MUST allow their workers time off effective tomorrow morning to secure their families.
Tomorrow additional public transportation will be made available by the bus operators to support the public moving inland. Government Transport will be pooled for deployment in Corozal, Orange Walk, Belize City and Cayo District.
Effective today, the Ministry of Education has called off the workshop for principals and teachers, including orientations and registrations. Principals and teachers are asked to use the rest of today to secure their schools to ensure that equipment, materials and other resources are out of harm’s way and that the school is prepared if it is to be used as a shelter. Furthermore, after securing their schools equipment, principals of schools identified as official shelters are asked to turn over school keys to their respective emergency management organizations (DEMOs, CEMOs or VEMOs).
Public Officers must be ready for Shelter duties.
As of 1:00 p.m. today NEMO will be on full activation country wide.
Stay Tuned for further advisories from NEMO and the National Meteorological Service.
Tropic Air Commences Evacuations
Although NEMO has only issued voluntary evacuations, Tropic Air has send out a press release indicating that effective immediately the airline has begun Evacuation Service. Tropic’s goal is to evacuate our customers as safely and efficiently as possible. When developing your family’s evacuation plan, please keep the following tips in mind:
*Tickets are issued on a first come, first serve basis.
*Please arrive at the Tropic Air offices with your luggage, two small bags per person, prepared to evacuate.
*Owners of large pets that require kenneling must evacuate pets during the hurricane watch phase of the threat to San Pedro. No space will be available during the height of an emergency evacuation (Hurricane Warning).
*Please remember that cargo is on a space available basis, and oversized items will not be sent during this time.
*As the weather deteriorates, we will be forced to stop flying.
Tropic Air will evacuate as many people as possible. Please help us make your family’s evacuation plan safe and efficient.
Bank Services: Belize Bank is the only bank to confirm that it will be closed tomorrow, Tuesday, August 7, 2012. As of today Heritage Bank and Atlantic Bank will open for business tomorrow.
