PTC (Potential Trop Cyclone) #15 Moves Towards Belize
8am Monday morning, Halloween UPDATE: as of 10:30am – Belize Time – she has been upgraded to Tropical Storm Lisa
PTC #15 – predicted to be LISA by this afternoon – is making her way towards Belize. Right now predicted to make landfall south of Belize City. Things can/will change – it’s what storms do.
What the heck?! This late in October? Yes! But do you remember Belize’s LoveFM radio chant? June to November, June to November. It’s the time when it may cool off well to our north but the ocean down here? She’s at her hottest.
For ALL information and watches/warnings, check our National Emergency Mgmt Org. NEMO –> here is our area’s NEMO Facebook page with all the updates. They are meeting today at 10am.
I can tell you what we are doing. The last time that we saw a Cat 1 hurricane reach the island. And where to get information.
What we are doing:
Watching for updates – first and foremost! Planning to move the camp boats to the back of the island (to the camp) – checking medicine (to make sure we have a week’s supply) – probably buying a few extra 5-gallon waters – checking generator. Check on your pet food.
Jeff’s mom is on the island, flight to return home is booked for Thursday. They called Delta early this morning to check if they could leave early – tomorrow. But Delta has no room on the Tuesday flight. So they will stay until Thursday. We are not worried about them perishing…just that power could be out for a few hours or a day…could make things uncomfortable. But they will stay.
Mostly, we are watching for updates. We will most likely put up our storm shutters because…we have them and this is what they are for!
The Last Category One Storm that Hit Belize
Hurricane Earl was a strong Cat 1 that came assure during a very high tide – early August 2016. It caused lots of flooding on the mainland and swept away quite a few docks on Ambergris Caye. (The surge moved in the opposite direction as the wind) He made landfall at Turneffe Caye and then again just south of Belize City. (All the details if you are interested)
Some pictures I posted after the storm.
Most Importantly, Where to Get Information
We are still 2+ days away – the storm is predicted to come ashore Wednesday evening. There can be lots of adjustments in direction, wind speed, size…
Websites to watch:
Wunderground – I like the zooming capabilities
Tropical Tidbits – if you like to play with the different forecast models and for the blog/updates from Levi
Track the Tropics – they jam lots of information in there
SanPedroWX – for very local conditions, tides (important!) and historical info
Be careful – watch all the updates and remember: better safe than sorry.
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