Hurricane Richard Hits Belize
By Swatilekha Paul, Gaea News NetworkMonday, October 25, 2010
BELIZE CITY, BELIZE (GaeaTimes.com)- Central American nation of Belize has been stuck by Hurricane Richard with thousands of people fleeing their home and taking shelter in nearby schools and churches. Although any reports of loss of life and damage to property has not been reported till now, the adverse weather conditions has disrupted electricity lines and blown off roofs of houses, according to reports. Weather officials have revealed that Hurricane Richard was focused along the southern part of the Belize City while it is expected to lose strength as it gradually makes it way towards the south-eastern part of Mexico.
The United States National Hurricane Center has divulged that Richard was upgraded to category 1 hurricane after it garnered sustained wind speed of 90 miles per hour when it hit parts of the Belize City. On Sunday, Hurricane Richard was making its presence felt at across the west-northwest part of Belize with an accentuated degree of wind speed. As the hurricane made landfall in Belize, parts of the Central American nation has been put under high alert while authorities have urged people to seek shelter in safe locations immediately. At the same time, all the vessels have been urged to stay in port in order to ensure their safety.
In the meanwhile, weather officials have pointed out that Hurricane Richard is likely to lose momentum on land and resurface at Bay of Campeche later as a tropical depression. However, apart from the high winds, one of the major threat that the hurricane poses is the torrential rains that are likely to lash parts of Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula.
