We have completed day 5 of the flooding associated with tropical depression 16 and no lives have been lost. The Mopan and Macal Rivers are still at flood stage but the waters are receding in Western Belize tonight, while they rise in the Orange Walk and Belize Districts. There was no school across most of Belize today because of the continued rains and threat of floods.

The rains though are expected to decrease tomorrow. And there will be school in most areas. We’ll have the full list later on in the newscast. The Prime Minister and other government leaders are also having a press conference tomorrow – where it is expected that he will not declare Cayo a disaster area but he will disclose the findings of a NEMO initial damage assessment and discuss how relief funds will be made available to those in flood – affected communities, mainly farmers. One of the most affected communities is Bullet Tree. We showed you calla creek last night and while that was hard hit, it is much smaller than Bullet Tree.

Today some residents of that village who fled to higher ground on Friday and Saturday returned home. Our 7NEWS team was in Bullet Tree Falls for what was a shocking homecoming for villagers.

Keith Swift Reporting,
This is the path of destruction left by the ferocious floods in Bullet Tree Falls. House after house – and family after family the scene was the same – homes devastated by floods. There are about 3,000 villagers in Bullet Tree. About 40 of them stayed at the shelter while others stayed at home and crossed their fingers. But most villagers fled to higher ground. This morning those evacuees began returning home.

Rosalba Manzanero returned and found her house still under a feet and a half of water. When the school teacher opened her door, she was speechless: her computer, sofa, and refrigerator were floating inside what was her living room. It now resembles a pool.

Rosalba Manzanero, Flood Victim – Bullet Tree
“We are in mud right now. My house went under water. I lost my computer, all my information from my sixth form information. I lost my sofa, everything gone. My refridge as well, some books…everything.”

Keith Swift,
What did you save?

Rosalba Manzanero,
“What I saved, only my stove. That’s it.”

Keith Swift,
When you saw the water outside what was your reaction?

Rosalba Manzanero,
“I nearly cried, nearly cried to see all this turned over. I feel bad because I lost everything. I lost everything.”

Keith Swift,
How will you move on?

Rosalba Manzanero,
“I don’t know. I will have to work hard to get all our things back so I feel bad. I feel terrible right now because I don’t have anything.”

Guillermina Waight also returned home today. Her stove, beds, and other major possessions were inside the community center – but her home was still under water. This morning she and her children and grandchildren were cleaning up, washing, and paging through water soaked memories. The pain of what she lost brought the 64 year old to tears.

Gullermina Waight, Flood Victim
“I told my husband maybe the river is not going too high this time. So he said maybe we should just leave the balance of the things in here. The things that we could take out we took it to the center but the rest of the things stayed here so you could see.”

Urel Waight, Flood Victim
“Well the river took the majority of things because fowl and a lot of the things it took I couldn’t take out because it is something that came in sudden. What I could take out are this.”

Gullermina Waight,
“I feel sad because you know how hard my children work for this, for me to have this here at home. Yes because everything that I have here, my children, I send them to college and they worked and tried the best for me to have my little things here in the house. So I feel sad.”

Other villagers also had reasons to be sad.

Richard Shaw, Flood Victim
“I’ve got water, probably 6 feet into my house and looks like it is time for the cleanup crew. We’ve gotten through the worse of it I am sure and now the best thing we could do is hope the storm is definitely past and what can I say…”

Keith Swift,
Was a lot of your stuff damaged?

Richard Shaw,
“Mostly wet damage. Water damage was not so bad.”

Rudico Manzanero, Flood Victim
“We only could take out a bed in here because the flooding didn’t give us chance. I had a television, a stereo, and a radio. We couldn’t take them out because it didn’t give us time.”

Keith Swift,
What is the feeling like after losing things you’ve worked your whole life for?

Rudico Manzanero,
“Well we can’t do better.”

Santiago Vasquez who manages the shelter says the Manzaneros and Waights aren’t alone – 25 homes were lost to the flood.

Santiago Vasquez, Shelter Manager
“Some of those who had never reached their homes is because their homes are underwater. We have roughly about 94 people who have lost their homes and it is very regretful to say that at the moment well some of them cannot enter their homes and they are willing to do their evaluations and without assistance from the government and thing they will be very sad.”

Sad because no one saw it coming – at least not this fast and this furious.

Rosalba Manzanero,
“I didn’t expect this. When it is a hurricane I know I have to pack up everything but this only said flood so I have not seen flood like this.”

Keith Swift,
How long have you lived in Bullet Tree?

Rosalba Manzanero,
“It is 33 years.”

Keith Swift,
Have you ever experienced flooding like this?

Rosalba Manzanero,
“No I have never experienced a flood like this, never.”

Gullermina Waight,
“I was born here in Bullet Tree. I have 64 years.”

Keith Swift,
Have you ever experienced flooding like this?

Gullermina Waight,
“Yes when Hattie. Three days it took for the river to come down but now, I didn’t believe because it was not a hurricane, it was just the flooding but I couldn’t believe it was going to raise so high.”

Villagers now have the task of picking up, washing, putting back together the precious few possessions they have left.

And while that is the situation in Bullet Tree, the scene was much the same in Calla Creek village where the flood waters are also slowly receding.