And as the flood waters in the west continue to recede, it's a plague for the residents in the low-lying areas that when it rains, it floods. Yesterday the mayor told us that even without a direct hit from a hurricane or tropical storm, as long as storms come from the south, those houses and businesses that aren't perched on hills will feel the effects.
He added that it's hard to stop Mother Nature, since the water runs off the hills and into the low-lying areas before making its way to the Belize District to join the sea, but there are flood mitigation plans in place. He told us more.
Earl Trapp, Mayor, San Ignacio/Santa Elena
"Because of Belize old river that forms the - or the two; Macal and Mopan rivers that flows into the river that forms the Belize old river, it cannot hold the large volume of water at one time and we have a low area here in San Ignacio that once that water is backed up from the Belize old river, then the 
water comes and forms like a lagoon behind the orchard, and the worse I have seen is through the orchard, but there is not much we can do. In terms of flood mitigation, yes, we can control it, but it depends on the large volume of water. If it's not too much we can control the low laying areas, yes. And I must tell you that we have a project that is in the pipeline through the 5C's organization in terms of flood mitigation. So, it's my hope that before December we should have the first phase of that project come to fruition and we can begin the feasibility studies and that will help us in just those freak storms to help us to alleviate the situation."
According to the mayor, there are more than enough active shelters in the town in the event of a high impact disaster.
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