When we first heard that the hurricane became a class 5, Scott and I both became more concerned. However, after talking to locals today, this upgrade was a blessing because it meant that the hurricane came in fast and didn’t spend much time loitering in Belize. Also, Belize caught the southern part of the storm which is not as bad, I am told, as the northern front of a hurricane.

All in all Belize is doing well. We drove up to Orange Walk to see what the damage was like and if we should set up a relief drive through out ministry partner in San Ignacio. Once we reached the outskirts of Orange Walk we began to see the power of the storm that had passed through in the night. Trees were toppled and power
lines were snapped in two. The amazing thing is that very few houses were damaged besides the rogue piece of tin that bent upward. It was a little troublesome to see that one of the pieces of tin that had ripped loose was on the church ROW is building in San Estevan. I will be sure to upload the pictures when I get a chance so that everyone can see the damage. The damage is not overwhelming, but there will need to be some minor repairs.

One thing that struck home for me was to see how much the citizens had already done in clean up. Branches were already in piles and people had already begun to remove the plywood from the windows. There was an overwhelming sense of community pride in the people of Belize that had pulled together and survived the storm, so Scott and I did not see a need for us to remain other than give some encouraging words to our friends we saw along the way.

Knowing that the Orange Walk and the surrounding villages are okay makes us rest easy and has now let us refocus on what we are going to do about the bike ride that is on hold. We will keep you posted on what we will be doing, so stay tuned.

With Courageous Faith,

Nick