Residents of the Corozal District are still living with the after effects of Hurricane Dean, particularly those who worked in the agricultural sector or had farms. But for many of the older folks in Corozal the morning of August 21 when Dean bore down on Corozal and pounded it with hurricane force winds for just about four hours - their minds went back to Hurricane Janet. 52 years ago today, category five Janet slammed into the Corozal and Chetumal. Many say Dean in its track and development was a clone of Janet. We looked back at the historical record to find why Dean's track may have been similar but its devastation could not compare.

Jules Vasquez Reporting,
At 1:00 am on the morning of August 21st, this is what it looked and felt like on the Santa Rita Road in Corozal Town. Four and half hours later at dawn estimated 75 to 100 mile an hour winds were still pounding the northern town, winds so strong, I couldn't stand in it. And this is what it left behind: destroyed structures, countless fallen trees and devastated crops.

But as this map shows; 52 years earlier - on September 28 there was a storm with a very similar track to Hurricane Dean. Hurricane Janet formed on September 22, 1955 in the Eastern Caribbean and took a path very similar to Dean. And like dean, Janet made landfall north of Corozal - the map shows it at Subtinente Lopez, the Mexican border town. It is reported to have come on shore at 1:00 am as a category 5 storm.

According to the historical record from this 1955 review of storm, the last known wind reading was 152 knots - 175 miles an hour. That was registered at the Chetumal Airport when the anemometer - which measures wind speed - failed because the tower it was on collapsed.

But Janet - seen here on the yellow track landed right at the border - and it mashed up Corozal Town. These images show what the storm did - complete devastation.

These Jesuit newsletters from that time approximate the damage. It says eighteen people were killed, 150 injured and 8 thousand left homeless with 95% destruction of buildings and a total loss of crops and livestock. Bishop Hickey's account reports: "all the dwellings in Corozal have been destroyed...only about 12 buildings remain...the only building left in Sarteneja is the school" And it adds, 40 Indian villages dotted over a thousand square miles, utterly flattened.

The newsletter shows the sister's covenant before and after the storm as well as St. Francis Xavier Church, before and after. It also reproduces billboard headlines from that time. And for all the death and loss, the devastation of Janet was estimated to be $5 million.

Janet and Dean, two storms, 51 years, 11 months apart - but joined by a common track.

And while the Jesuit account places it at 18 deaths, the recognized fire is 16 deaths in Belize from Janet. It's notable that in Janet one of the Nave Aircraft, the precursor to the hurricane hunters, crashed when it went into the storm.