Update of Flooding in Cayo

We also asked Chief Engineer Lennox Bradley about the road infrastructure following the flooding that affected the Cayo District. 

Lennox Bradley, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing: “We anticipate that when the water, the Macal River and the Mopan river recede somewhat the Branch Mouth Road might be affected somewhat because the material on that embankment is easily scorable and it has been eating out for some years and the road was becoming a bit narrower and narrower with time and now that we have another flood event and both rivers alongside that branch mouth are at the flood level , advanced flood level, we feel that maybe there will be further erosions so that is an area that we have to look at very closely because students from Santa Familia access San Ignacio through Branch Mouth. We do have a cable bridge that spans Branch Mouth to accommodate the students there and that right now is closed to the public but the erosion is a concern there. So that is one area we have put in our assessment because we have to stabilize that road it’s really necessary for students and residents accessing San Ignacio. We anticipate the sort of damages that most areas that are closed will have. The Bullet Tree /  Santa Familia Road up to yesterday was closed because they had a small section about 1 ½ miles past Bullet Tree Village that was underwater that even big vehicles couldn’t pass but now with the water receding vehicles can use that road again. We do have other areas in the Cayo district for example the Bullet Tree / Calla Creek Road we have two locations on that road we have 5 foot culverts that were washed out. We have already mobilized trying to get culverts from Blue Creek in Orange Walk the first set of culverts arrived at that location this morning about around eleven and the second trip is due early tomorrow and we will be replacing culverts at those two locations on the Bullet Tree / Calla Creek Road. We also have another area in Cristo Rey where the culvert was completely washed out, we have a 30-foot-deep gorge there that is an accessible, that leads to the water pump station for the village so we are also dealing with that urgently.”