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Tonight C Jay Meheia gathers some recollections of the storm - including one from his grandfather. Here's his story:

On October 27, 1961, approximately 63 years ago Hurricane Hattie unleashed its fury on Belize, then known as British Honduras, leaving a trail of destruction that would forever change the nation. As one of the most powerful hurricanes to strike the region, Hattie not only wreaked havoc on homes and infrastructure but also tested the strength and spirit of a community. The storm's aftermath revealed the vulnerabilities of urban areas to severe weather and sparked a transformative journey toward improved disaster preparedness and resilience. More than six decades later, the lessons learned from Hurricane Hattie continue to shape Belize's approach to facing the increasing threats of climate change and natural disasters. In 2011 the Communication Officer from NICH told us why she believes that Hurricane Hattie changed the history of Belize.

Shari Williams, Communication Officer, NICH
"Definitely whether people agree or not, we have to all agree that the phenomenon of Hurricane Hattie changed the course of Belize in history. In 1961 you have to understand the atmosphere of what Belize City was like. In march of that year they had just held a general election, in September they had celebrated their 163rd anniversary of the Battle of St George's Caye. The atmosphere of 1961 in Belize was that of a new nation being reborn. People were ready to build their new nation, and then in October of that year, the entire atmosphere of the entire country changed. After the devastation known as Hurricane Hattie. In 1961 as we all know Hurricane Hattie imploded on the entire country of Belize. It had winds of 165 mph, with wind gust of over 200 mph, there were torrential rains, it had huge Flooding. It really changed people's attitude at that point. It devastated and simply destroyed the entire country of Belize, In particularly Belize city, and so it was very important for us, the museum of Belize along with the Craige family collection, as well as the Belize records, archives and records to look back 50 years, and see where we are as a nation and where we were then in 1961 after this devastation."

We spoke to a Hattie survivor. Roberto Novelo was 11 when the storm hit and he remembers hunkering down with family members:

Roberto Novelo, Survivor
"How many people were in the room? There were about five families. Yeah, about five families. I remember one of them now, it was Mr. Nicholas Ballard. That day,The breeze was blowing. As I said, the breeze was blowing , and it was starting to pick up and it was pretty hard on name later. One of the windows at the right side of the building blew in. It blew. It blew in. And then well he got to the window before everybody else and he said a really big cupboard to be covered. But they brought the big cover and the places in front of the window. So, you had both four men standing by the window in front of the cupboard. To hold it back you know so it doesn't blow in again."

"Strong breeze. We were really strong. Thunder, lightning, rain, everything over."

The breeze was definitely strong but were they not prepared for the floods and the massive waves threading through the buildings washing away cars and houses.

Roberto Novelo, Survivor
"What I saw, i saw like a river, a big lagoon,, you have the big board vats, big ones rolling on the grounds, rolling down Gabriel lane, and other things, cars, cars were going. Houses everything? You had all kind of material going down the road."

"Our home was low and it was filled with about 10 inches of mud. We had to be cleaning out the whole thing and I forgot to say that it was muddy. We had mud, mud, mud. We had to wash out on the same water from the street. We used to pick it up or wash out the place until we got to clean."

The Commissioner of Police at the time was Charles Howell. In December of 2011 he told us about his experience of having to seek out bodies and Keep people off the streets.

Charles Howell, Frm. Commissioner of Police in 1961
"Then that was coincident with Hurricane Harvey. Hurricane okay. They had curfews at the time, as I recall. Yes. Yeah, we had that. And those days, unfortunately, if we found dead bodies, I think we had about 400 people that died in the hurricane. We opened the prisons and let the prisoners out because they would have all been wrong, you know? I mean, the whole town here was under about eight feet of water. If we found bodies, we tried to identify them. If we couldn't, we would burn them there, you know, cremate them on the side of the road and all that."

Then First Minister George Price also remembered the bodies - this from 2013:

George Price, Prime Minister at that time
"At the graveside, I prayed the Lord's Prayer and asked God to bless the grave and grant eternal rest to those who lay in it. The following days, more dead bodies were collected. Some were burnt on the spot. Others at the entrance of the cemetery. The burnt remains were laid in the communal grave. About 100 dead bodies were found in Belize City. Others at Caye Caulker. Turner's and the Cayes. Dangriga, Mollins River village and elsewhere. Total deaths recorded were 264."

And deceased Bishop Dorick Wright remembers seeing his family wash away and thinking he was the last boy in the world

Bishop Dorick Wright, Lost His Family in Hattie
"There are lots of things I remember. You just can't forget it. As a sudden a tree, I looked around. I just saw water. I saw it, maybe there was only one alive. I thought maybe the whole country was covered with water. And I can recall my father shouting at me. He was standing on the side of a house. All three walls had gone down and he was on the fourth side."

"I think this is good because we can at least identify a spot where the deceased are, where the bodies of our loved ones are buried. And, you know, in Belize, we have the habit of putting wreaths and flowers in graves and that this is a place you can come and say, you know, my mom is buried there, my sister, my brother, etc. and so you can always come back and not exactly chat with the dead, but at least send it a prayer for them."

What would happen to Belize if a Hurricane as strong as Hattie would hit today? We asked people exactly that and their responses were as you might expect.

Bishop Dorick Wright, Lost His Family in Hattie
"So if a Hurricane like Hurricane Hattie is supposed to hit Belize again you think we will survive? if a hurricane, like, okay, not supposed to hit Belize again, you think I survive it? Well, I know that we will survive it because you had people before. My ancestors survived it. Might I survive it might. Not everybody survived it, though? No, not everybody will. Because not everybody has faith. Trust in Almighty God."

Reporter
"Give me a solid answer. You think we survive it yes or no?"

Interviewee
"Awe will survive it by the grace of God not always survive it."

Interviewee
"Well, I was here for Hurricane Hattie, and it was terrible. But if another hurricane should come here with the force that it came with and the wind, we will not survive."

Interviewee
"You can just look around, man, and you can see the damage that was done from Hurricane Hattie and all of them hurricanes that passed through."

"That's why the city I looking like sticks and you know, everything patched up."

Interviewee
"If that I ever reach out. Nope. We're not sorry about that, Hattie. By a lot of people got story about Hattie. What do you think about Hattie reach now 2024 Hattie, My God."

"If you see technology exists, and we still deh Behind, cause sometime they predict the weather the come today and a 3 days after the weather still come. So tell them all the people they wah duh dead or nuh dead? Cause they the believe fih pack up that thing up and get out. When they do get away, never come back and the next day the hurricane come. That dah craziness. Cause half of the time i ina my house the listen to the weather, the weather seh we a have storms and rainy weather today and you come right out yah dah hot sun all day. Then when you look the next day when you nuh plan fih nothing, everything come. Yoh cant even wash."