Hurricane preparedness requires understanding that even below-average seasonal predictions (8-14 named storms, 3-6 hurricanes, 1-3 major hurricanes) still pose significant risks, as a single hurricane can devastate a region. Citizens should prepare by understanding local hazards, creating emergency plans, maintaining drainage systems, and storing water supplies, while relying on official sources like the Met Service, Hydrology Department, and NEMO for accurate information rather than social media rumors.
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Open your eyes is brought to you by the Biz Bank. Our country, your bank and smart, bringing people together.
live from the GB. PM Studios in Biz City. It's open your eyes. Start your morning right with your hosts April Martinez and Isani Kitano.
>> Good morning and welcome to Open Your Eyes >> Start Your Morning Right.
>> I am Asana Kayano >> and I'm April Martinez. Good morning.
Good morning is >> my friend. Today is Monday June 1st.
>> It is the 1st of June. Yes, it's the first of the month. It's also the kickoff of the hurricane season 2026.
But I get into all of that a little later on, right? Good morning once again.
>> Good morning. Good morning.
>> I feel like I haven't shared the cult with you in quite a bit >> in a in a bit indeed. It's been a while, but it's good to be here with you. It's good to be here with you. Um it's been raining cats and dogs uh in Belma. In Belan mighty warm this time, but yes.
>> No, it was thundering and lightning. Um yeah, all the way up to probably about Hatville. For real, it it was raining really hard. But I also understand you guys experienced your own showers last week where we didn't experience any. So we had a little opposite going on >> for me though.
>> That was more than welcome.
>> Yeah.
>> Only because the previous days, previous weeks were scorching. So the rain reprieve, right? We get to leave it with that.
>> But you know, it is not just the start of hurricane season, but it's also the start of the rainy season. And so we are going to be possibly continuously expecting these uh showers of bliss. No, no, no. We need the rain. Indeed, we do.
But speaking of hurricane preparedness, Isani, what do we have for the show this morning?
>> It's fitting because this morning we're going to be having extended conversations discussing the hurricane season, hurricane preparedness, and everything that has to do with June to November. So, here we go. All right. Our first conversation is preparedness starts at home. Nemo and Simo are getting biz ready for hurricane season 2026.
Then we're going to be discussing with the Bise Met service on forecast storms and weather alerts.
>> Subsequent to that, we're going to be doing somewhat of a flood watch, right?
Understanding how water rises and preparing ourselves for flood.
>> Right?
>> And then finally, we're going to go in a slightly different but related direction. Right? BL is going to be joining us to discuss their hurricane preparations as well for the season.
>> Right? So the next few months, as I've said, from June to November, >> it's all about the Atlantic hurricane season 2026. Now, from what I'm understanding, it's going to be below average this time around, >> but does not mean that something can't form out there and come our way with the intensity that it has in other parts of the world previously.
>> I mean, even with the prediction, uh, Asani, these hurricanes are still very much unpredictable. And I know for a lot of people might not remember, but I always think about Hurricane Mitch. I always think about Hurricane Mitch. And we were all too young for that.
>> Listen, we were all preparing >> to evacuate because we were sure we were sure that he was coming and then at the very last minute he just take a I put this out there, right?
>> Yes.
only because I'll share a little bit a little tidbit of my life with the public with the world. Right. So my only reme my only memory from Hurricane Mitch was that man I was dealing with my first broken heart.
>> So you don't have anything about hurricane.
>> No. Check this out. Check this out.
Check this out. Check this out. Right.
Fresh out of high school. I think I was going into six form at the time. Coming out of a relationship and then the hurricane come.
>> Now there was no internet. Well, there was internet but very like you know start so to speak, right?
>> And then >> I got to build my plan, right?
>> And I remember sheltering at Our Lady of Guadaloop with my mom and my dad, my my family and my uncle who at the time was the priest in charge of Belma Pandio.
>> That's my uncle.
>> Yeah. So, so we were there and then I don't know where my galax yo if I think of hurricane hurricane you think about a heartbreak everybody for their life I decided to go through it >> but that's not on the five things that we need to know for this morning but let's get into some topics that we'll be discussing some topics that I think are worthy of your opinion uh our lovely viewers this morning. So, here we go on the five things that we think you need to know. One of the things that has been buzzing uh throughout the entire weekend uh is a bit of a political backlash uh between the minister of foreign affairs and the former >> former affairs >> former affairs sorry um Oscar Mira honor honorable Oscar Mira thank you and the uh former UDP chairman Alberto August and so uh now we have the former leader of the opposition Shine Barrow getting into the conversation asking for immediate release of the former chairman and we'll talk a little bit more about those details and how we got there. Uh, second item on the list to discuss. We had it in our newscast on Friday. Sane, the former police corporal um Elmer Na is ruled guilty for the 2022 triple murder. That was a huge uh topic of of conversation over the weekend. The uh president and just on the uh continue continuing sorry on the Bleian front hits pause on coastal development. We had the prime minister of belief talking about coastal development and where we are with certain investments. Um, finally on the international side, polls open in Colombia as they are going through a pivotal presidential election.
Actually, they're still going through that right as we speak. They haven't selected a winner yet. And lastly, Isani attended a celebrity wedding.
>> Um, like that. So, no, but we saw it all over social media and of course he's going to tell us a little bit about who's and who's not on the list of invitees, but not no we we we have we want to end it on a light note. Um but before we >> too early to put me on the front street.
>> No. Well, you put yourself on the front street when you talk about heartbreak with Hurricane Mitch. But um just for the for our viewers and a little bit of content, we know that uh on Friday there was the horrible brutal murder of uh Dr. Naun Bonia in Las Flores. Um and that is my cousin that is a family of mine and so we are going through it right now. Um and within all of the halalu and just all of the chaos is um you know people were saying things. We had political leaders making statements.
We heard from the uh you know the chief of police. We heard from so many people about the investigation and so forth.
And within all of that mix, um, people were saying certain things that the, um, Minister of Home Affairs said about the family, about the murder, um, which later on turned out not to be true. But in the event, um, it became a uh, less about the tragedy and more about politics, which doesn't sit right with me. um what was later on stated by the former chairman of the UDP, Mr. Alberto August. Um basically stating that the honorable Oscar Mira uh said that the person was not from Belmaan and therefore this is not a Belmapan matter.
And then you hear a backlash from the honorable Oscar Mira saying I did not say that and he went through a long uh tangent on Facebook. And then we end with the detainment of Alberto August for I believe 48 hours.
>> Yes.
>> Right. And now we have um the leader of the opposition calling for his arrest.
Uh calling for his release. Sorry.
Because they're saying that he could state what he needs to state on on on online. It's freedom of speech. Uh, honorable Oscar is saying this is cyber bullying and therefore they're inflict in inflicting the cyber bullying act detaining Alberta August.
>> All right, just let's be a little clearer just for the benefit of our viewers. Right.
>> So I think it's regrettable when we take a situation that is tragic.
>> Yes.
>> In this case, my condolence to you and your family and to the family of the late Dr. Bona.
It's difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that you could take something that is tragic and a family is grieving >> and a 5-year-old little girl who experiences dramatic ordeal now has to live through that and then you politicize it or you you put a spin on it. Right now, as you rightly mentioned, >> the focus has shifted away from what actually took place in Las Flores that morning.
>> Yeah. to now a bucking of heads between people who are for all intents and purposes pretty much having a pissing contest >> right >> um so but in the mix of it right I I we don't want to get lost on certain things here the mix of it there is what some would argue as the exercise of freedom of speech and on the other hand what some would argue as well you're basically using an online platform platform to target someone >> with these forms of criticism.
>> So those are the two sides of the coin at hand. Right?
But again when I think about this thing, right? My primary interest is to know what actually happened that morning in Belmaandeed >> that resulted in this vehicle coming under armed attack that ended with Dr. Naun Bona losing his life while reportedly taking his daughter to school that morning.
>> Right. I don't care about the noise between the politician and the former chairman. That should not have been the the the topic of interest for anybody who's following what happened there.
Right.
>> Yeah.
>> But here we are. Right now we're we're arguing freedom of expression versus cyber bullying. Now I'll also go a little further and this is just my personal opinion based on what I've observed over the past few years or so.
>> Yeah. So this piece of law was enacted in 2020 and since then a number of people have been dragged before the courts because one they feel that those persons were cyberbullying them and so they filed a claim a report and they went before the court and in some other instances it feels as if though that very same piece of law is being weaponized to target certain people who are very open with their criticisms of those in power or those who wield power. Right.
>> Yeah. So it's a very very delicate thing you're looking at because if you're a regular individual just using an example if you're a regular individual and someone takes to Facebook or any platform on social media and they disparage your character and they're going at you relentlessly.
You the regular person supposed to be able to seek some recourse against that.
Right.
>> Agreed. this person constantly attack me on Facebook or Instagram or whatever platform they use. I need now to file a complaint, take this thing before the court so that this person can stop that malicious or defamatory act.
>> Right? But then when you're a public person like like if you hold public office then to some extent you should be open to public criticisms. So if we're talking about leadership, if we're talking about management style and stuff like that, >> then somebody's supposed to say, "Well, I feel satisfied how you handle that and here is my two cents on it."
>> So where do we in my opinion, where do we measure having a thicker skin for the office that you hold versus saying, "Well, I'll just use the piece of land and come at you because you're not supposed to say nothing about me or nothing about how I manage or how I lead." What I hate about >> I think I'm and I'm being fair in looking at both sides of the argument from that point of view.
>> What I hate about it um Isani is that the cyber bullying act was in was first initially brought out because people were going through scandalous very defamatory issues online. nude photos, horrible videos, like people sharing these very very bad things about other people that really were in the business of of exploiting and defaming others.
And so this act was supposed to protect people from stuff like that. Now you're seeing it being used for people's own agenda. One of the other things that I hate that came out of this incident is that we're talking about things like free speech, right? Mhm.
>> But if the free speech is inaccurate, then you have to be able to speak against it. Right.
>> And what I'm seeing now um after uh Alberto August was detained is that you have other members of his party that reshared his post. I saw uh the honorable John Saliva, the former honorable John Saliva reshare that same post. I saw Yellow Man reshare that post. You see other people reshare that same inaccurate information post thinking saying okay well if the man want get detain make detain all within for they reshare the exact same post which in my brain adds on to the misinterpretation of facts. It continues to do the thing that that we're saying that it takes away from the actual root of the issue. Somebody was murdered brutally and we're trying to figure it out and you're playing party politics and you're continuously spreading this false information.
>> Okay. So just just try a second here.
Right.
There is always a responsibility on the individual who is disseminating information especially especially if it's about someone else.
>> Yeah.
>> Right. That responsibility falls clearly on you to make sure that what you're sharing is accurate and factual, right?
>> Yes.
>> Cuz at the end of the day, we hold our reputation dearly, right? So I I certainly I'll speak for myself, >> I certainly hold my reputation dearly.
>> So if someone is going to publish or spread something about me, it has to be something that they know is rooted in some factual basis. So I can't argue back that than ever that >> right >> now. anything short of that then you're targeting my reputation which I hold so very dearly. I'm just using it as an example.
>> So I supposed to could say well look boss you out there to put out a whole pile of foolishness. we're not we're not accurate. We're we're completely defamey or or you know and so that is the responsibility that these people should have or anyone should have for that matter.
>> And I don't know where >> either Mr. August fell woefully short of that >> or if he believes that what he was sharing is actually factual. That's not for me to decide.
>> Right.
>> But again and I'll leave it at this and we'll move on. Here we are again completely shifting the point of this all away from a grieving family in Belmaan.
>> Yeah.
>> To politics as usual.
>> Yeah.
>> Right. And I think it's most regrettable. But let me move on. Leave that there for now.
>> Our next topic of conversation. Uh former police corporal Elmer Na is ruled guilty for the 2022 triple murder. That was also a um >> that was our headline on Friday. On Friday, >> right? Um, man, I I I'll before we get into the lengthy decision that was handed down by Justice Pilgrim, I'll just sort of describe the atmosphere, right? Cuz I think it's important for people to understand this whole buildup that led to Friday, >> right?
So when we woke up on New Year's Day 2023, it was to this sad and tragic news of three people being attacked inside a home in Belmopan. At that time, two of the brothers had already passed.
Vivian Balile Ramnarice was still hospitalized >> right for for a period of about 48 hours or so after the vicious attack.
During that time, she gave a statement, right?
And to me, the full circle moment came when the judge in delivering this ruling said the statement was so vivid, right?
And it perfectly lines up with some of the other evidence that was brought into the case.
It's it's almost surreal. But I again I'm digressing a bit. Let's go back to the atmosphere. Right. So during this entire period of time since Mr. Na was arrested and charged to the dispensation of justice on Friday, the man changed so much liar.
>> Yeah.
>> So much thing going on during that period of time. Right. There was even a point if I if my recollection serves me well where they entered a an establishment right looking for I don't know evidence or or surveilling the place and then the people felt kind of way all kind of thing happened during the time right >> what outside council came in >> everything happened but fast forward to Friday >> the bell and ramnar race families were out there at the high court waiting for this outcome because by then the entire process had been exhausted right we don't gone through the trial phase the mit enter and no submission and that never worked boom so they Friday >> and I was not there >> okay >> but I saw the images and pictures like video tell a thousand words Right. So when you see that exhalation from the family when the decision was handed down, guilty on all counts, >> including the attempted murder of the woman who got away with her life.
>> Yeah.
>> Guilty on all counts.
>> I think this is the beginning of that closure for the family, right? Because justice if you look at that that image just now that's that's powerful in and of itself right these people have waited for so long to hear from the court as to whether or not Mr. is guilty or not guilty of these charges that were preferred on him. Right?
>> So guilty as charged.
>> I think from where I look at it, it's the beginning of that actual process of closure cuz this was hanging over their heads from >> January 1st, 2023 >> to May >> 29th >> exactly 2026.
>> Matter of about 3 years or so, but that in itself is a lifetime if you're trying to find closure and move on with your life. I think one of the um the starking moments was um >> watching Mr. Na come out.
>> Yeah.
>> Very silent.
>> Yeah.
>> Because all of the times that we've covered his case every time we're out shout at the camera, he shout at the family, he shout at us.
>> And um >> very very much no words. All he did was just stare at the family, >> right? Um, and I think for me even that speaks a thousand and one words that exact moment right there.
>> I'll say this from my end.
>> We at least from me, >> right?
>> We still don't know where Ghana what what led to what happened.
>> That will forever be a mystery to me.
>> What precipitated this attack, right?
Was Mr. or not the singular actor in this whole thing or was he doing so on behalf of someone else or who who else was in on it?
>> None of the question for me I don't know that I've gotten those answers.
>> No, nobody has and I think that's the other step to closure for the family.
Right. So we have justice has been served for um our three even four victims cuz even though the young lady got away with her life that is still trauma for the rest of her life. Um, so the fact that the child is without mother and father as a result of this thing, >> you know, so we still want to be able to we have a lot of unanswered questions. I don't know if we'll ever get those answers. Uh, Isanane, >> but I know sentencing >> is set for June 18th, right?
>> Yes.
>> And I'll say this and again we can move on.
We're kind of short on time, right?
>> Yes.
To me, from where I sit in the newsroom, it's one of the most followed criminal trials, second only to Danny Mason at all.
>> Right.
>> That's true.
>> To say that we've been following this entire country beginning and we've gone through the whole nine yards with it.
>> Yeah.
>> All right. Well, let's end uh on a on a light note, if you will, is how was your weekend?
>> Restful.
>> Restful.
>> Why?
Okay, let's walk it back a little bit. Let's walk it back a little bit.
>> No, no, no. I had to throw it in there.
>> So, over the weekend, cuz a lot of people may talk about this whole thing uh Thursday and Friday, right?
>> What manifes you arrived at the PGIA and people >> I thought it was a joke in their whole room.
>> But I I I'll say this, right?
So, I I I got a phone call This would have been Thursday in the newsroom just before news. I'm like, it's a number that I'm not familiar with.
Get a phone call. So, initially I missed the call, but I saw the name. He's like, okay, I just text the person kindly call back, right? The person calls back right away. So, he introduces himself.
Then he asks, I'm not sure if you know who I am, right? But by then I done got in a my own mood. I done figure Okay, yeah, I know who you are. So, long story short, right? Person calls, says, "Hi, Isani. I'm I'm Dave Maze, right? Um, I'm not sure who if you know who I am." I said, "Yes."
>> Then I go back to the source magazine.
Remember, >> I a true hip hop head. I I'm there with you.
>> In his words, he was fangirling. He just don't want to tell that.
>> No, no, no. I I don't reach a partner yet. Working miss I don't reach a partner yet. No, but so so immediately I made this calculation. Yeah, I know who you are. Goes back to the source magazine and what have you. Then he says, okay, you know what?
>> I'm here in the country. I'm going to get married on Saturday and I'd like for you to attend my wedding. Right? Then he in the same conversation he's saying, "Okay, do you know of a podcast called Still 400?" I said, "Of course I do." Right.
Again, kind of a hip-hop bag. I follow all of these things, right?
>> Vlad TV, Still 400, Art of Dialogue, Matt Hafa, all of these guys I do follow. So, I'm aware of it. So, >> the podcasters are Juvenile and Manifesh. Right. So, he says they're coming in to do a podcast during well during the wedding event. Let me put it that way.
But they're looking at tourism and biz >> so I'll take this I'll pause for a second and commend uh the director of tourism Evan Tilllet >> and Cheyenne Barrow for being guests on the podcast and being able to speak so funnly about this country that we all love and we're marketing with the rest of the world. I was able to sit in on the the entire podcast >> and those two gentlemen did us well.
>> Okay.
>> Right. So again, kudos to Mr. Tilllet and kudos to Mr. Barrow for putting biz out there the way it should be. Right.
But yes, so so >> get an exclusive invitation. Ghana Prince Island. Now, Prince Island is is a piece of of is a key basically owned by James Prince who's also a label owner, one of the well-known rap labels, Rapalot Records from Houston, Texas.
Right.
>> So, this exclusive wedding took place there between Mr. Maize and his wife.
Now, his wife is a former producer for the Oprah Winfrey Network.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> Right.
>> And so, all the nutshells and everything happened, right? And I'll share a funny moment because this is this is the part that for me is one of the good takeaways in all of it. Right. So there's a part of it which is a Jewish tradition where they break the glass. Right.
>> Yes. Masleto.
>> Yes. Nobody got no glass.
>> No. At a wedding.
>> Nobody got no glass. Right. So Shine and I are sitting next next to each other front row. Right.
>> And he has a glass of wine in his hand.
Mali boy that's really wide so fast I brought the glass everybody just broke out into a laughing that was amazing right but it it I mean it's one of those weddings that people outside of biz because of the whole hip hop thing >> people are going to be talking about they've already had enough chatter about it especially for those people who saw these individuals come to the country at the PGIA that's where the chatter began >> they're trying to figure out why they were here but I I mean all amazing thing aside, I I'm not a big hip-hop head like Isani, but when he asked, "Do you know who these people are?" Duh. Who doesn't, right?
>> I know who that manifest you know who manifers at the time. Some of my favorite songs.
>> If you're a true music fan, you would know the Source magazine. That's where it all started. I remember as a Lee boy grew up with Source magazine. I miss lunch money I spend for B magazine. Yes.
So that's where that goes back.
>> I think also it this for this to be like one of those celebrity weddings that happen here in Bise that's that's major for us because Bise is one of those um spaces that people often market as a wedding destination area. So for them to choose Bise and to choose an exclusive island that does bode well for us that does put us on the map tourism when you're talking about tourism. So excellent had a wonderful weekend guys.
I and I'll leave off on this note, right? I see and I and I and I'll be very sincere and deliberate here.
>> See, a lot of us Blesians, politics aside, we do everything to talk bad shine. We disparage at every turn, right? But the man is steadfast in being able to promote bise to the rest of the world. So if you like him or you don't like him, that's a matter of personal preference. But you can't take away from the fact that the man is the flag bearer for this country at every moment he gets. And I I give him his respect for that.
>> No politics, no nothing. It's simple.
Whenever he gets a platform for him, it's biz first.
>> And he's acting in the in the capacity of an ambassador to promote bise and bleians and bleian culture.
>> That's what we need. But I want to go into some of the comments before we close off our um you know talking session this morning.
Um, thank you so much Sonia for your condolences and good morning to everyone. Uh, Romeo Rosado is saying to be able to criticize the government is what democracy looks like and he's talking based on the note of the cyber bullying act. Um, manio says somebody asked what he thought about Jay-Z's freestyle.
>> Oh man. All right.
>> No, we don't have time.
>> We left that time.
>> We don't have time. But clearly you struck a nerve there.
>> Yeah. had the man gone off and everybody look I leave just answer to man really quickly bro I watched the entire roots picnic concert yesterday three times over and the first part with the threeminut freestyle and he's going at everybody >> there there is your answer man you see where you start a kind of worms but of course thank good morning to all of our viewers that are locked in and tuning in with us this morning if you have any opinions on any of the conversations that we had, please, please let us know in the comments section below. All right, so we're going to take a quick break and when we come back, we're going to begin our hurricane preparedness morning show. You don't want to go anywhere. We'll be right back.
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Welcome back to Open Your Eyes and thank you so much for joining us. Our first three conversations will all be about hurricane preparedness, hurricane watch, and of course, what our friends at the various services are doing to prepare us, but of course, how we as citizens can prepare ourselves. And joining us on the couch, we have uh Tanil Hendai, and she is a chief hydraologist. Good morning.
>> Good morning. And joining her we have Melanina Dawson. She's leazison officer over at Simo. Good morning.
>> Good morning.
>> We have Mr. Daniel Mendes. He is a national emergency coordinator over at Nemo. Good morning.
>> And we have uh the chief meteorologist Ronald Gordon. We hear him all the time.
Good morning.
>> Good morning. Good morning. Good morning ladies and gentlemen.
>> So today is all about preparedness that starts at the home. This particular conversation is how Nemo and Simo are getting Bleach ready for hurricane season, but of course what we as citizens can do to prepare at home. So let's start with what we can expect uh for our hurricane season this year.
>> Okay. Sure. Uh good morning again and thanks for having us this morning. So um when we look at the seasonal prediction uh most agencies are expecting or are predicting we're going to have just below normal in terms of hurricane activity. Um so what do I mean by normal? We're looking at the average uh from a baseline period of 1991 to 2020.
And over those years an average hurricane season consists of 14 name storms uh that's tropical storms and above winds of 39 mph and over. Of those 14, seven typically become hurricanes, winds of 74 miles per hour or over. And of those seven hurricanes, we typically get three major hurricanes, category 3 and higher, 111 mph and more. Uh this year we have two fac well, we also have two main factors that we look at. That's how warm the Atlantic is. Uh that's the source of energy for these systems in our area. Uh and when we're looking at that, we are seeing warmer than average waters in the Atlantic. So there's the energy there. Uh but there's a suppressing factor and that's in an El Nino which many persons may have heard about.
>> Super El Nino.
>> Super. That's the word that is being hyped about there.
>> There's no such thing, right?
>> Well, I would say a strong El Nino, >> but certainly it's a it's an exceptional El Nino this year. Um some models are showing above up to 3° C warmer waters in the Pacific. uh so in that area that means there'll be more tropical cyclone activity >> and therefore stronger wind shear over us. What do I mean by wind shear? That's the difference between the winds at the lower levels and the higher levels of the atmosphere.
>> Those tend to disrupt hurricanes forming in the Atlantic Ocean. So that's a suppressing factor and given those combination uh we are expecting just below normal which uh from Noah in particular they're going for um 8 to 14 names forms. Um, of those three to six could become hurricanes and one to three major hurricane. Uh, I will always, as I always say, the numbers are just numbers. We need to be focused and prepared. It only takes one hurricane to hit us uh for it to be an active season for us.
>> Yeah. Category um Lisa was only a category one >> indeed.
>> Right. So I really wanted to discuss the the hurricane season for this year uh only because these the the way that the weather and the climate is changing uh from about 5 years ago now we're seeing very intense hurricanes or we're seeing uh no hurricanes that pass through bise you know by the grace of God really um but how is the technology advancing here in BISE as you all continue to predict these um weather occurrences And are we being a are we able to keep up with these advancements?
>> I would say we are. Um first of all I will speak from the global perspective.
We have seen that weather observations in particular have increased significantly from the early days and that has contributed to improvement in weather in tropical tropical cyclone track prediction especially um I always give the example of course of hurricane Melissa last year a system moving due west south of Jamaica with all models indicating there'll be a recurvature toward southern Jamaica and that eventually materialized so certainly um we are seeing that improvement on the local scene we're also contributing to that improvement our weather observation network has become so dense and that we are one of the most I would say um in Central America and the Caribbean a country with the most weather observations across the country. We recently included the um a storm surge monitoring station at the fishes department to also monitor storm surge.
So we are making strides in terms of monitoring and tracking these systems.
You know what is my biggest issue as a layman is when I know and appreciate the work that you guys do >> to make weather forecasting as local as possible.
But when there's an event that's or a system out there, for some reason, people still go to all other sources other than the actual Blelesian information, so to speak. How do you guys combat that? Because with with social media and with information floating out there in the ether, everybody now becomes a forecast.
>> Everybody know what I'm >> Yeah, I agree. So I we try to combat it by having our own social media accounts.
Um we have Facebook page. Um I believe we have a YouTube channel. We need to populate it a bit more. But certainly we are trying to combat it by having our own social media. People don't go to traditional media anymore. We have a website. I I would say it's pretty impressive but people prefer the Facebook and the social media pages.
Also um we do have a weather app believes weather both on Android and Apple devices that you can download and use. Um but as I always say it's impossible to stop persons from looking at what they want to look at. There's a lot there's a vast amount of information out there as you rightly said. Um I always remind persons that we are tasked we are responsible for providing with a forecast or beliefs. Therefore we're accountable. So if something happens um uh we didn't prepare you or we didn't give you enough um warning uh then of course you come back to us. But if you're looking at some other person out there, that person is not accountable.
So if you are following him for guidance and you are not prepared, you cannot go to him and say, you know what, you you >> you misled me.
>> You misled me. He's not accountable. We are responsible here and we have a stake in it. Our families live here.
>> Yeah.
>> But Mr. Mendes is the head of this overall apparatus that's called Nemo, right? And I think your shoulders are heavy especially more when we have a system that is forming or one that is imminent in terms of landfall in BISE.
What has that job been like for you in terms of one being able to remain ahead of everything that's taking place not only out at sea but primarily here on land for preparations and being able to mobilize people should there be an eventuality.
>> Okay. Thank you. Um I want to go back to your first question about uh who we rely on. Um so we at Nemo when I say Nemo we have to go back to what Nemo is. Nemo is a system right? Nemo is not one organization. It's not just one organization that we make all the decisions and we say everything. So Nemo is an entire system. Uh it includes all of government uh all all departments uh all organizations including all the people of BISE are part of Nemo. So when we used say we rely on on information we rely on science and the science that we rely on is science provided to us from the med service and from the hydraology department. Uh and so th those are the people we rely on those is those that are the scientific component of NEMO that make that help us to make those decisions that need to be made. So what we have been doing uh is doing uh as much as we can in strengthening government itself ensuring that we have provided the training and the support uh to our government partners ensuring that they have the support needed to carry out their their their part of the of the entire function. Um the second thing we have been doing is working with our municipal partners such as Simo to ensure that there is a plan at each municipality and that that everyone knows what they need to do. Uh then the third thing we have been doing is putting out a lot of outreach uh through our through our own social media ensuring there's a lot of information out there so people know what to do where to get information from. Uh and so that those are that those that's the part of the approach that we have been taking to ensure that we are as best as we can ready for this hurricane season.
I find it very um I have to give you all your flowers really because for as much as uh like Isani mentioned you all do so much um at the end of the day all of the outreach all of the information it is there and it's up to us as citizens to take heat of it and actually plan um ahead but NEMO isn't just uh for hurricanes right the establishment of the national emergency uh organization was to ensure that everyone is well equipped to withstand any sort of disaster whether that be natural or human at this at this very junction right with bringing COVID and forest fires and so forth.
How are you all equipping your staff with the resources that they need to ensure that they have everything that they that they need to be prepared and to you know do their outreach and so forth.
>> Well, it goes back to to number one training and preparation of the staff.
Um and so we have been ensuring that our staff has been receiving as much training uh as much support as we can and so uh last year a lot of our staff completed uh post-graduate diplomas with Galen. Um we also have been sending people uh across the world to ensure that they received also the best training that we can provide to them.
We've also been designing local training for for uh for Nemo uh staff itself but also for the rest of the government. uh and so we have been participating with the University of BISE to ensure that there's uh there's there's now online training for uh for public officers. We will continue to do that uh for for different creating different modules for for training for those people who actually have to do the the work on the ground. Um and so we have been doing a lot of that uh just ensuring that we have the basics um uh to to be able to do our work. Um um it's not it's not easy. We we have to look at many different hazards, not only hurricanes.
Uh we have to prepare for everything really. Uh oil spills, um accidents, uh aircraft, any aircraft accident. And so the national emergency structure is not only for hydrometeorological uh events, but really for all events. And so uh it is a huge job really trying to prepare for everything, but um it's it's one of those challenges that we continue to face and and take on every day. So while we appreciate the overall scope of Nemo's responsibilities, Nemo for many people becomes a prominent acronym June to November because we automatically think hurricane and hurricanes and Nemo go synonymous for many people, right? And then SEMO.
>> So I'll use that now to segue to Melanie. Uh I know that recently uh Simo led its cleanup campaign here in Bise City in preparation of this particular season. Let's let's talk about that and perhaps what were some of the successes coming out of that activity.
>> Okay, great. Thank you. Yes. Um we started this cleanup campaign last year.
Normally for the um opening of the hurricane season, we would have a symposium, you know, educating and having discussion with different partners and stakeholders. But what the mayor mentioned is let's do something different. Let's get, you know, boots on the ground. Let's do something physical to see you know um improvements within our drainage system within the city because we all know that um flooding is one of the major issues within Bise city. Last year we hosted the first cleanup campaign which we did notice drastic drastic um improvements with the drainage. Um, we were here last week.
Um, and if you guys can remember, the assistant engineer mentioned, you know, cleaning out the main outlets within the city, the drains. Um, one of the ones we can see improvements with, and I know maybe you guys could, right in front of Freetown, the gas station. Um, we use a sludge truck in that area, the vacuum truck, sorry. And um we did drastic clean out within the drains and now it doesn't flood as much you know um within bise city we we will have flood you know for the mere fact because we are below sea level um however the runoff period is so fast you know really fast um >> we've worked in targeted areas within the city um that we find as vulnerable to flooding. So, um, for the cleanup campaign, we had 130 of our staff out being the operation staff from the works department, the sanitation department.
Um, we were working very hard. I mean, some of the drains we took out plastic bottles. So many bottles. Even like the big ones that you use, you know, with the the the um discipline in it, it was a lot of garbage.
>> We are so gross.
>> Why?
>> Yes. Um but I mean um with all the work done I do believe that the cleanup campaign will you know make major progress within our flooding system. And um what I do have to mention is this is not only for you know something that we do in June or prepare in preparation for the hurricane season. It's a task that the council does you know throughout the year and we keep doing it on a daily. I find like I I applaud Simo and its efforts to being that local space where you all prepare the citizens of Biz City for hurricanes. I'm I'm hoping Mr. Mendes that this model can be applied to other >> areas. We also have DEO, right?
>> Right.
>> Yes. Um well, they're all unofficial names, but there is a district committee. Uh in every district, there's a district structure. Um every municipality has a function. Uh so while it may not be called SEMO, uh every town and city council do have uh people who do the emergency management uh of comp uh function. Um we are looking for uh on ways on how we can keep on strengthening the municipality. Uh so we have been working with the United Nations office for disaster risk reduction in ensuring that biz city uh has signed up to an initiative initiative called making cities resilient. Um we have had uh expressions of interest from Belmapan uh orangewalk and Dangria to join this initiative and it's it's a it's a series of steps really uh to to lead the the municipalities in the right direction to making these municipalities resilient.
there's a series of things we have to do ensuring there's there's plans ensure there's training and exercising uh and really doing everything we can. So we are trying as much as possible to not say not only say we are ready but we actually have the certification to say that yes this this town this city is resilient because it has implemented these uh this program along with NEMO and the United Nations office for disaster risk reduction.
>> Wonderful. Uh let's go over to Miss Tanal, our water expert, hydraologist, chief hydraologist, if you will. Uh you all were not here, um not too long ago, you were here kind of discussing, you know, the reasons why we should be a little bit more grateful for the water sources that we have and so forth during the hurricane season. How important is it that we ensure that these steps that we take to mitigate flooding um prepare for flooding and so forth um are taken seriously.
>> Okay. Um thanks for having us here today this morning. Um for us it's at the very basic level. Um we tend to can't live without fresh water. If we get up and we want to shower and there's no water, it's like we're in a frenzy. We catch anxiety attacks. you start looking at the 5 gallon bottle of water like do I need it to drink or do I need to pay it?
Um you know we make these kinds of um frenzy choices but we don't make them unless we are put on the spot. Um the purpose of the hydraulic service is to assist in all matters related to hydrarology and integrated water resources management. So we just don't think about supply, >> we think about longevity. We think about um variability. What does that mean?
When we're having events, and I don't say hurricanes because we can have events and we're in flooding stage.
>> Um it might not be in the urban areas, so it's not highlighted as much, but in the rural landscape, yes.
>> Um it's definitely something that we need to look at. So while everybody else is saying June to November, >> my slogan has changed January to December >> because it can happen at any time.
>> Um so we always have to be prepared. um we're not a 24-hour service as the MET service, but we do operate like that and more so um in terms of the normal June to November um that we know about. So, we're never resting um we're just a little bit less busy, but during June to November, it's when it it gets really heightened, but we are on the lookout for June to November to happen anytime between January and December.
>> Yeah. I mean, we've had those odd cases where those hurricanes come out outside of the hurricane season, right? So, you have to be prepared at all times. But, we do have to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll be having our same guest. We'll be discussing more on hurricane preparedness and what to expect expect this hurricane season.
We'll be right back.
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Welcome back. We're continuing our conversation this morning. Uh it's all about hurricane preparedness as we go into the Atlantic season for 2026. Um with us is the chief met officer. We're also joined by the national emergency coordinator, the SEMO officer, and the chief hydraologist. Right. So, we have an extensive panel of experts this morning. I want to go back, excuse me, I want to go back a bit and talk about the deficit in rainfall for this year and the fact that it stands to affect those in the agriculture sector and other people who rely on water for industry.
>> Definitely. So um I mentioned earlier that we are expecting an El Nino to develop >> um a very high probability actually over 90% that you may have an Elnino this year and while that is good in terms of reducing the potential for a significant hurricane although I said it only takes one right but the chances are a bit lower given the Elino that's a positive factor there are negative factors as well and that would be rainfall deficit uh which is quite likely to occur um during this rainy season and persisting into the dry season next year. So, um what does that mean? Um the normal rainfalls that you would get during this period will be lower. Um I know that we have seen the start of the rainy season quite on target. Uh but we do expect that the what we typic typically call the midsummer drought or locally the maga season will be more intense. That typically develops in or July or late or August. Um it is quite likely it may form earlier this year. Uh could be at the ending of June or early July and persisting into August. So that would be a significant um period with uh less rainfall than normal which will significantly affect farmers. Um another uh sector that needs to be on the alert of course is the energy sector. Uh I know that um we do depend on hydro power a lot and we also purchase from Mexico which also is hydroelect electrical power. So if they're having deficit it will also impact what they can provide to us. So certainly it's something that we need to be on the on the alert for.
Other factors include heat stress and it's going to be hotter than normal during this particular winter season. So that could be an impact on both human, animal and plants actually. Uh so it's there are several factors that we need to be on the alert for and prepared for in this particular um rainy season.
>> I find that um you are you are all sending the message quite clearly but what can we do as citizens to ensure that we protect ourselves?
I guess I would defer to >> Okay. Um well, I think with uh to protect yourselves number one is understanding the hazards, understanding what we're even here uh to do. So it it's really trying to understand what what is what is a hurricane, what is a tropical storm, what is a drought, uh and understand where you live and and really trying to see where does where does where I live uh get impacted by a flood? Is there potential for flood? Is there potential? So you so really that's the first step understanding where you are understanding those hazards. Uh the second thing to do is to start to make those plans and preparations and and to start planning not with the not with the hope that it won't happen but start planning with the with the idea that it will happen and when it does happen this is what I need to do. So u you need to have a plan some sort of plan um and I know that there are different people with varying kinds of resources. Uh ultimately uh the best you can do is try to get information uh and and know where to go. There's a lot of information already already available. Uh there's a lot that we have created, all of the departments have created and so there's a lot of information out there and that so knowing what where you are, knowing the hazards, knowing what to do, those are the most important things. Um now when we say prepare for hurricanes, we don't necessarily mean that you need to go and invest a lot of money. There's a lot that we used to do in the past and these are the things that work before and so we need to look at those and so think about think about multi-purpose uh uh things things that just just the normal buckets which you can be you can use for many different purposes uh and so it's really trying to try to find that information find find those ways to to prepare uh and and to remain engaged and to know uh that we are in this season and that there's there's a there's always the potential for something to happen as Mr. Gordon said, even though we might see we might be seeing a a lower than normal season, for us, it just takes one hurricane to make it a bad hurricane season. So, we need to really keep that mindset uh and to and to keep preparing, keep uh engaging with uh with all of the uh agencies and just ensure that you know what's happening. Um so, we uh we have at at NEMA, we have a network of 10 offices across the country. Uh every district has a district office. Uh you can find the names and the numbers of those officers on our websites as well. And you can contact those officers and and and make uh and make requests to meet with them. If you're not sure what to do, you can call them and ask them and they can they will provide you advice and they will provide you guidance that that you need during the season.
>> I think that um what happens in the aftermath of a hurricane, that's when people really think about the effects of of a storm. um every time we would report if there was a hurricane here, you see the destruction of homes, you see the destruction of roads, you see all of this flooding and so forth. But coming back to the destruction of homes, um particularly here in district, Miss Melanie, um how are you all engaging with people perhaps that are in more higher risk environments, homes that are perhaps not as stable? How are you all engaging with them to ensure that they are prepared and they're safe during hurricane season?
Yes, like Mr. Men Mendes rightly mentioned um it's to educate you know people let them know what is the proper way to prep to prepare um it not only goes down to buying groceries you know you also have to prepare your homes um one of the things that we are doing at the council is we are um sharing information on tips on how to prepare your homes um what you can do to mitigate certain things. So what we try to do is send information out firstly, you know, clean your yard. Um make sure you limb your trees because those can also be a factor of condemning your homes, you know. Um also, you know, making sure that you your home has the right um the roofing straps. That that is one of the major things we try to ensure that you know we keep the information out there. Another thing is to let them know that um the garbage, you know, the garbage in their yards, make sure you clean those up. Um I mean, it all goes down to, you know, sharing the information, letting people know how to prepare and giving them the right preparation tips.
>> You know what comes to mind when we talk about the aftermath of a hurricane or a weather system that has passed through?
Think about Hurricane Lisa.
>> Mhm. and all the debris that was left strewn across the city in its wake. But I also think of that collaborative effort with everybody and I think it's it's one of the most commendable things that I've seen in all my life when it comes to dealing with the wake of a system.
>> Government mobilizes all of these ministries that would be pivotal or crucial to helping. So you have like MIDH, you have city council, you have human development. Everybody comes in and helps.
>> So much so that you wouldn't even think after a few days that the hurricane actually passed through Bise City and created all of this damage. And I'm hoping that it's the same idea or mentality that translates to any other part of the country where if one passes through Dangria for argument sake that the same effort and initiative is placed to be able to assist because the quicker we're able to remove debris and get back to a sense of normaly the faster people are able to rebound and move on with their lives.
Right? when I live in a disaster torn area. It's that in and of itself, excuse me, is depressing. Like >> zinc everywhere, garbage everywhere. How do you begin to pick up the pieces, right? And so my like I said, my immediate reflection goes back to Hurricane Lisa and how quickly we were able to bounce back from that. Um >> that speaks to your coordination as well though, right? So I I'll refer this question to to you, Mr. tremendous in terms of being able to work with these other agencies but also work with the BISE Red Cross for instance that that kicks in for disaster relief efforts and what have you.
>> So uh that is very good example of what Nemo is uh in hurricane Lisa. So uh like I said NEMO is not one organization. It is not me me and my my team going out to do it. Uh so every time you see an MIDA truck when you see when they saw a city council they were they were all working on under the umbrella of national emergency management. Uh and so that is what will happen in any in any district if it happens anywhere that coordination will be there. Um and so NEMO uh itself is is uh is a system of 14 different functions. Uh and picking up disaster debris is also one of those functions.
Um so we it's a it's a really it's an integrated system where every ministry is a part of uh of of this uh every department has a role to play because uh we are not specialist at NEMA. I'm not a specialist in picking up uh debris.
There's a spec specific way of doing it.
There dangerous items and things that need to be considered. So that is led by the department of the environment. uh when it comes to opening up of of of shelters and manning shelters that falls under another ministry who are the specialists in those things. Uh and so that that system uh continues uh will continue to work um um for every event not only for for hurricanes. Um we saw it work in 2024 when we were dealing with with forest fires. We had a we had a a multi- agency team um the police defense force, the forest department, the red cross and uh it was it continued like that. Um the red cross is a very very important partner to us. Um the red cross is uh is is is one of those those pillars that we rely on. Uh they they are at the highest level of of Nemo.
They are repres represented uh and they are our partners in every district. And so you will see every time there's uh there's work, the Red Cross is right there with us uh alongside us. And so um in terms of engagement, we we remain engaged. Uh we are in constant communication with the with the Red Cross. I'm always on the phone with with Miss Bowman. Uh and we keep on planning together. Uh and so we will continue to support each other. And so we support them as best we can and they support us as best they can. It's it's mutual. Um just really for the benefit of of the public good. I really wanted to stress to our viewers this morning that you all exist for pre-preparation and for post as well, right? Like post disaster and all of that. And I find that majority of the time we tend to rely or believe that you you have to be there for the post. Um and so for us as as citizens, I keep stressing us as citizens because I think that I don't expect Mr. Daniel Mendes to come through my door. um the minute the hurricane land and I have to figure it all out that that responsibility is for me and my family. So as much as you all are giving us tips, there's so many other spaces where we can find this information and so on. I keep stressing that the responsibility lies on the citizen to ensure that we follow through. I wanted to bring the conversation back to Miss um Tanal because we find that whenever the hurricane come, we go by shutters, we go buy nail, we go buy all of these different things um just in the event that something happens, but what are some other factors that we need to consider when preparing for hurricane?
And I know um you know, Miss Melanie, you touched on groceries um but other essential items like water. How are we to conserve and ensure that we have drinking water? I mean, we might not have to bathe for like two days, but like drinking water is extremely important. Um, and to ensure that, you know, a person could go without food, but they can't go without water, >> right? So, um, you can't go without water for more than 3 days if you want to remain the same hydration that you should.
>> Um, we often see this when we start to feel tired or our eyes start to sink in or we feel dizzy. you know, you have different um health symptoms, >> right, >> that you might have. Um I mean, it goes back to the very basic. Um growing up, you have what we call pigtail bucket, your large bucket. You go, you buy it. I think it's like $5 or $6 for the bucket.
You um maybe I have a good a good Chinese groceryer that sells to me for $5. Um, but you know, you wash it out, your soap powder, your Clorox, you have the cover, you make sure it's clean. When hurricane time is coming and you hear from the Met Service, you know, you start to have your phase one, phase two, you start filling up your buckets. And if you absolutely didn't get to do that or you run out of supplies, um, the Ministry of Health always say you put your there's a amount of Clorox that you put to the water, allow it to settle. When we're getting the rainfall, we don't have to buy that.
>> You have we get these barrels, you know, send your barrel. Yes.
>> People get the barrel, clean them out, put them outside, make sure, you know, you have your little mesh thing.
>> Um, we call it a cheesecloth.
>> Put your cheesecloth over it. Catch the water. Drop your Clorox in there. That's water. It doesn't have to come from the top. And when we do that, we reduce the pressures on the water supply systems because remember that they're now dealing with very turbid waters, a lot of dirty stuff, you know, trees, rocks, debris. Miss Melanie just mentioned about plastic bottles. Whenever you have an event, you see everything coming down the riverine system. And we always say that water is a natural solvent. It just takes time for it to dissolve um certain types of material. So there are things that you can do that won't cost you that much to do.
And so we would always say, you know, do this. It's we already, you know, the groceries, we have to get the shutters, we have to buy the board, we have to get the zinc, the nail, and everything just keeps piling up. This is one thing that you can prepare for before that will alleviate some of the burden. It won't reduce, it won't get rid of it, but it will be one less thing for you to worry about. While it's raining outside, thunder, lightning, you know, we're in a corner, the water is filling up in your barrel. You just need to make sure you have Clorox or I think the Ministry of Health has some little tablets >> that you can get from them beforehand and you have it. You, you know, find out how much water your barrel or your bucket can hold. So, you know, you put in the right amount because we don't want to put in too much >> because then it's not good.
>> So, we have to make sure that we have that balance. Um, that's on the person on the individual. Um, on the agency side, um, like the Met Service, we have advancements as well to help us with this. um the better their products are, the better our results are. So we look at things like having our hydraological outlook which tells us about water availability, follows the same system, normal, above normal, um below normal.
We have the same traffic light if you want. We standardize across um the met and the hydro agencies. So we're piloting that with the Biz River, but the national plan is to have it for all waterersheds because it's not just the Biz River. We hear people say, "You're always studying about the Biz River, what happens to the others?" And we're like, "Yeah, there's a prioritization, but we're getting to everyone, you know." So, we have areas like the north.
Um, >> we look at the New River. Everybody remembers the New River from 2019. So, that's our next pilot area. We have um the Billy's water services intake on the North Stan Creek River. That is our next priority. So, our prioritization um doesn't just go based on one factor.
It's a multiffactor criteria system that we need to prioritize but also you need resources to do that.
>> Um we depend on global models. Um in hur with hurricane Lisa we use a platform called geogloss and it's a global streamflow forecasting system. So it was using our data for biz and so it helped us to highlight the areas that we expected severe flooding and in our documentation we know what severe flooding is.
>> Um in San Ignasio it historically it went up to 11 m which is about 33 34 ft >> of water. It didn't reach that stage but the system showed us that in that area it would have severe flooding. So all of these products help us to better inform the public. It's data. It's water level measurements. But what does that mean?
>> That is what we do. And so um advances, we love them. I love hearing that the MET service has a storm surge sensor because that helps me now with coastal flooding. I can say if I expect six foot storm surge on >> in Bise City, that translate to about 10 ft of water above the surface. So now you have a better idea of what to expect.
>> When we do our flood hazard mapping, we know the areas and how many feet of water you would expect in certain areas.
They say, "Okay, fine. The flood is coming, but do I stay? Do I move? Do I put sandbags, you know?" So the more technology we get, the more resources we get, the better the products, the end products can be and the better the decision making can be. While you're while you're on that, um the chief meta officer spoke earlier about the rainfall deficiency, right? Um what's your weigh in from your end um as to whether or not it would adversely affect farmers as well?
>> Okay, so this is like a whole science lesson.
>> I'm here for it.
>> There are different types of drought.
>> You have meteorological drought, which is the absence of rainfall that's usually very visible. And then you have the hydraological drought where we need the meteorological drought to happen.
And so the hydraological drought just means that the water table keeps declining.
>> So that's when you will see with your farmers with their root crops.
>> The water table is below the very end of their roots and so they start wilting and drying and then we get that right and so then that throws us into an agricultural drought. So you see you'll need to have meteorological hydraological gives you the cumulative of an agricultural drought. So these can happen um not really in parallel but what you can see when one is going to lead to the other. If I'm not mistaken I think we use the SPI >> um for indications of a hydraological drought.
>> What we also use is a satellite called grace which is groundwater pressures under the groundwater resources under the pressures of human of human interaction. This tells us when it moves like a traffic light from green to orange to red. But that's on a large scale. We would then need to have that capacity to downscale that to bise because one tile fits the entire country and that's not representative of the entire country.
>> Um you're telling me that the Maya mountains and the coast is having the same groundwater reaction which we know is not true. It's different. So you need to have the ability to downscale these um global products to fit our reality.
And sometimes when we watch regional things, we get the wrong picture because it's not downscale to our reality.
>> You can watch it but have that in the back of your mind that if I want the downscale version, then I listen to the local agencies because they have that downscaling.
>> But I have a question in terms of of that, right? We still a lot of the flooding and the rainfall in for example Guatemala and Mexico that does have a runoff and it does affect us. So you still have to monitor the regional weather channels. Right.
>> Yeah. So for us um our borders don't stop at the borders.
>> Right. Right. um you have what is called transboundary flooding which means that biz country might not be getting the rainfall but we have Mexico getting um excessive amounts of rainfall we have nearby Guatemala getting excessive amounts of rainfall and that runoff that channels into the river system it then comes through that river system and flood us so we deal with many types of flooding um we can't be myopic we always have to be looking at everything and so that's why we say hydro ology is really a complex science and it's integrated.
You can't just look at water in biz and say okay this is the situation >> and when you have that flooding in Benke and like where did this come from we didn't get any rain and everybody starts questioning but that builds to part of the public awareness and the information that we share um informing everyone that you know that this is a high possibility >> if I live in a flooded prone area how can I help myself like how do I mitigate it if I can't move or if I can't leave what can I Mhm.
>> Um if you live in a flood plane and it's normally gets flooded, it's something that you can't control.
>> Um what you can control is how fast the water runs off and that's where what SEMA did with clearing of drains.
>> Um removing debris that helps with the runoff processes. Um with Bise City, we also need to consider the tidal influences because the tide stems the flood waters from coming down. You need to look at your drainage like Halova Creek, the mouth of the Bise River. Um, some systems require dredging to improve your flood discharge function. So if you have blockage, it's the same thing. If the water the drain is blocked, it stays there. It attenuates it until it eventually finds a way to to release itself.
>> Um, so there are some areas that we need to do um hydraological studies. um one which we have started with the Hallover Creek in taking the discharge measurements to see what's the flood discharge function um we have the burden canal that exits or releases flood waters that does not go through the hollowover um the ble river >> so biz river comes the flood comes down some goes through the hollowover creek some goes out to the through the mouth whatever is coming through hollow creek if the saboon river is not flooded then that water can discharge. So it has a what we call a reverse function. You know usually you should go from top to bottom heat it goes whichever way water will take the least part of resistance.
>> But if we have two systems flooding then we have to look at which one is discharging more water and then that will then increase the concentration time or the resident time in Billy city because it doesn't have anywhere else to go. It will go up and then it will spread out. So we we have to look at many factors. Um hydrarology has a insight into what we're not seeing. Um so we're trying to build on that in terms of looking at the flood discharge function, how efficient it is, trying to tying it into our flood hazard mapping so that SEMO, Nemo, everybody has a better idea of, you know, what's going to happen with the flood situation. But I'm not presenting a magic stick here.
There's not a genie I'm rubbing in a bottle. Um we're just trying >> um you know as we have resources to build this type of system so that the information does get better.
>> Yeah, >> I really I could sit down and talk to you all but as we are coming to a close in our hurricane preparedness conversation. Give you guys a moment to say a few words to our viewers um in terms of how they can prepare themselves, what they can look out for from your various departments. So let's start with you uh Mr. Gordon. All right.
Um, so like you like I've said before, um, we provide 24/7 service. We're monitoring, we're tracking, and we're keeping an eye always on the weather.
And certainly, um, just like the other agencies mentioned earlier, we don't work just from June to November.
>> We work 24/7 all year round and we provide services of course to the aviation um, the airport. So we have to be remain open. Um but in terms of advising the public um like I have said before and I will repeat um there are a lot of information out there um a lot of sources of information but if you're making a decision that would affect your life and property listen to the official sources there is the hydraology department there is Nemo and the service that you should um focus on know we are um we keep developing as hydraology mentioned we are looking at different um equipment And I mentioned the storm surge um gauge. We have increased our weather um station capacity. We do have an operating radar which is very useful um not only by us but actually by other countries. Um the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida that is very popular here uses our radar whenever there's a system making landfall near Bes to pinpoint the center of that system. So we have various um equipment at our disposal and we are here to provide that service and to alert the public. We do coordinate with each other as well. Starting today actually we have our daily weather briefing between >> this is the weather briefing >> every 11:30 so we work very closely in that area as well so uh we are prepared and we are here to um alert the public >> so I think uh just to to echo what Mr. Gordon said, um, really listen to the local experts because as you have heard from the conversations, uh, clearly, uh, these are the people that that Nemo listens to because they're the ones who know what's happening in our country.
Uh, and so we we highly recommend that you must, uh, listen to to to to the Met Service, to the hydrarology, uh, uh, flood forecasting, uh, and also listen to things that come out of NEMO because this is where our information comes from. Um again the second thing I wanted to stress is that today is now hurricane season. The time to prepare for hurricane season was yesterday. Uh and that you are if you haven't started you very late and you need to get on uh you need to get on the planning. Uh there's a lot of information already available.
Um and so it's there. Uh if you're not sure um understand that there's a there's there's a Nemo office in every district. Uh please call those officers.
They will provide you guidance. uh if you're not sure if you live in a flood plane, they can help you uh and they will help you to to plan and and to to make your own arrangements. Uh but really when it when it comes down to to to it all, uh the responsibility lies with the individual. It lies with the individual person, with the individual organization, the individual business uh to really ensure that that is done. Um at Nemo we will continue to do our best to to support uh uh everyone uh and to keep our system as strong as possible but it needs participation from from from everyone. Uh so uh that is what I would like to leave everyone. The time to plan is is yesterday. So uh yeah get on it.
>> Okay. Well, for me, I would would like to let everyone know, please, if you do not have your family plans in place, please ensure to create one. It is very essential. Um, a family plan, um, entails, you know, what you would need to buy, you know, for your groceries in preparation for any event. Um, emergency contact numbers, you know, if you need to evacuate, where will you go? So I do believe having your family plan in place that will help you in the event you know you need to make any decisions and like Mr. Gordon mentioned and Mr. Mendes, please listen to the official sources, the Met Office, you know, the hydro hydraology because a lot of people would come, you know, they get the wrong information and that would cause a panic and that is what we do not want, you know, getting the wrong information. On my end, um, from the Bise City Council, you know, we will keep working. we will ensure to keep um strengthening strengthening our preparedness within the city and continue to work with um the agencies that are all here.
>> Um well, I don't want to reiterate what my other colleagues have said. Um but just to add that um if you need to know anything about flooding, contact our office. Um we have our Facebook page, Bill Biz National Hydraological Service.
um many persons have myself when it kind of became >> public, right? Um but we do have a um number that we're going to have dedicated to the office to address um certain concerns um relating to our flooding. So yes, keep listening to us um asking us the questions um where the counterparts in country with the knowledge of how systems behave. And so, um, like we said, if you haven't prepared already, you have another day to get to get on it. So, let's get on it.
>> All right. The weather app is available on Play Store and on your Apple Store.
If you haven't downloaded that yet, now is the time to do so. The shelter contacts are available on the Nemo and the Simo Facebook pages. So, get on that if you're in an area that you require shelter. Thank you all so much for joining us this morning and I'm sure you'll be back because from now to November we'll definitely uh need that reminder to be prepared. So, thank you all so much.
>> Thank you for having us.
>> And we are going to take a quick break.
We'll be switching gears to powering through the storm. How the Biz Electricity Limited prepares for hurricane season.
Heat. Heat. N.
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Electricity is essential for everyday life. But behind every outlet, a lot is happening to bring you safe, reliable, and sustainable energy. Let's start at the beginning.
Independent power producers across BISE generate electricity using a mix of renewable and non-renewable resources.
Electricity travels across a network of high voltage transmission lines capable of transmitting electricity across long distances.
Electricity then reaches your nearest substation where it is adjusted to a lower voltage, making it safe to travel on the distribution lines you see in your community. From there, electricity makes its final journey from the distribution lines to your home, providing you with safe and reliable power when you need it. Biz Electricity Limited. We continue to serve you.
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Biz wakes up connected to opportunity and across our country the work to keep Bise connected continues. Smart continues expanding our network across the country, bringing stronger coverage to more communities with recent service enhancements in areas at Blue Creek and Progresso, Belise City, Orange, and more on the way. We're bringing education closer to home, empowering entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, supporting industries that drive our economy, and keeping families connected wherever life takes them. With every expansion, we are investing in the infrastructure that moves through this fire. Because connection isn't just about city. It's about opportunity, progress, and the future we are building together. Smart.
Bringing people together.
Welcome back to Open Your Eyes. And joining us for our final conversation, it's all about how BEAL is preparing for the hurricane season. Joining us to talk about it is Mr. Zay Fitzpatrick and he is the safety coordinator over at BEL.
Good morning.
>> Good morning. Good morning.
>> And MNA Asseo, she is the supervisor and the customer experience over at BEL.
Good morning.
>> Good morning.
>> Good morning. So, we just came off of a conversation with the professionals over at Nemo and Simo Hydrarology and the Met Service on how they are preparing for the hurricane season. But another very important resource is electricity. How are you all preparing for the hurricane season?
>> Of course. Good morning everybody.
Thanks for having us. Um at BEL, we we prepare from the end of the previous hurricane season. In fact, we're always working on uh grid grid reinforcement proactively. Um especially where vegetation management is concerned.
>> Um uh if you know um you might know that >> a high percentage of our outage during storms are as a result of vegetation management. So we go in heavy on that.
Um we also check the integrity of our poles, our lines, our different assets that are out there. So we do that before the season, during the season, but we put a lot of leg work into that aspect of it. Um, you may or may not know the the way how the grid is designed is is for safety purposes. So when we have a blackout, >> all right, we assume that someone or something has come in contact with the line and so the entire field might drop.
Not that what we >> normally term a blackout and this happens especially during a storm.
>> All right. And so um since we have the platform and there was a mouthful said by the experts earlier about hurricane preparedness and what is expected of you um we ask our customers to to help us be our eyes be our ears where vegetation management is concerned um you can utilize the app to report uh vegetation that might be >> close to our lines. How are you all assessing? Um cuz it's I mean it's a big country to cover, but for example, we're just coming out of the dry season. Um a lot of forest fires had taken place that sometimes and not often damage the pole lines. Um how equipped are you to quickly assess and be prepared at the same time for the hurricane season that's coming in June?
>> I mean, we have a plan that we go through. Um we exercise it uh at least two months before the hurricane season.
We understand where our stocks are. We distribute to the different countries so that if if we have assets that go down, we have the ability to fix it. If a pole burns down like the example you give, we can replace that. We have our contractors and standby. So we we are fully prepared as we are every year, you know. Um and so we we we the purpose here is to let the blazer know that we are prepared and we are ready for the hurricane if we are ever threatened by a storm. for the benefit of our viewers, um perhaps we could speak a little bit more about vegetation management, right?
Um what it means and and how residents should be able to if not trim their own trees that are growing into your power lines, at least contact someone at the company so that you guys could come in and assist with that.
>> Right. So where vegetation management is concerned, we have a program that we invite individuals to call us um with trees that are close to our line or have the potential to damage the line or come in contact with the line should they fall.
>> All right? And so we at BL ask the customers to call in advance. What tend to historically happen is just before the storm is that we get a bunch of calls. All right? So we have the program all year around. Um and it has to be threes trees or vegetations that are close to the line or are threatening the line. Not the mango tree back at the yard want to cut down long time. All right. Has to be the one that is threatening our life.
>> Yeah. You were talking about uh how citizens can also assist in in ensuring that we are prepared in the event of a storm particularly where our electricity is concerned. What do you mean by that?
What can we do as citizens?
call us when the the the vegetation are encroaching our line. You can keep your yard free of debris because these are the things again once these things these loose debris or vegetation come in contact with the line for safety purposes to protect life limb and property the entire feeder will drop.
All right. And I must mention that during a storm we will keep electricity on for as long as possible.
>> All right. And should power go down during a storm which again a high percentage of these outages are because of vegetation.
>> All right, BL will respond when we get the all clear.
>> How can we save our electronic devices and our electronic electric resources within our homes when there is a blackout?
>> Say that again. How can we save our electronic devices and our appliances um in the midst of a lot >> in in the midst of I always encourage that you have the the surge protectors.
There's these ones that there are sensitive equipment throughout our house or TV or refrigerator. We always encourage the use of those. Um during a storm, if you have to go to a shelter as a part of your plum, we always try encourage you to turn off your electricity before you leave your home in an effort to protect your electronics as much as possible.
>> You just you spoke about a weather app not too long ago. Let's get um Mina in the conversation. Um what not the weather app, sorry, the Biz Electricity Limited app. Everybody have an app now.
Um what is it and what can what what can we do with it? Okay. So, um, yeah, we do have a BL 247 app, which is essentially the easiest way to all things BL. Our customers can access seller services at their fingertips 24/7. So, just to give a little bit of background information, the app launched in 2020, and since then, we've done multiple upgrades through customer feedback, through inerson interactions to continuously enhance the app and ensure we include features that our customers want to see to meet their needs and expectations. So um it is since the launch we haveund 117,000 registered users in our app with about over 70,000 account linked to the app where customers manage their accounts through there.
>> Yeah. And >> how does that how does that uh help with the overall customer experience being able to to one keep up to date with what's taking place with the company and with their individual accounts >> and being able to interface with you guys.
>> Yeah. Um so we mentioned it's where our customers can access all our services.
So um also in who the app is for. So we have our customers right because you can we said we can manage accounts through the app but it's also for consumers. So, as we're on the topic of hurricane restoration, um early hurricane season, whenever the light goes off, it becomes everybody's business, right? So, you do not require to be a BL customer or have an account in your name to be able to use the app. So, some of the things that you can do is apply for all our services. So, if you want to connect an account in your name, if you want to uh connect a new meter, if you want to close off an account, all of that you can do through the app and more.
>> Does the app work offline? You know, when the electricity go off, that means the data go off too.
Um yes it works offline to an extent. Um but um going into what all else we can access through there. Um so we said apply per services you can manage your accounts. So you can manage up to 80 accounts in the app.
>> So it is for the regular residential customer. It is for the our commercial customers. If you're a property manager or if maybe you're the person in the household who helps your maybe a granny to be able to manage your electricity account, you can do that, right? Um, we spoke about speaking about the hurricane season. We have a power updates feature in the app where customers can be in the know of all things BL. So through there we post educational content, notices and of course outage notifications for planned unplanned emergency and that's where our customers can go to stay up to date with real-time information for hurricane restoration if anything. Yeah, I find that uh whenever the hurricane season comes, we don't think about these things until the power goes off. So, how are are we as how are you as as we apart from the app, what are other uh customer services that you offer for people that perhaps are not techsavvy?
>> Yeah. So, we um continue to meet our customers where they are to serve them, right? So, we're doing this Yes. you are at because you can access our services wherever you are 24/7 but we also our offices of B city and San Pedro remain open um we schedule appointments for customers if you meet us through one of the mediums and maybe your request cannot be resolved it's either we meet you or you meet us but we schedule appointments we visit our commercial customers um we go to the communities that we serve through customer service pop-ups where we uh provide all our services in those different communities as Well, um, we remain available through our 0800 toll-free number, through email, and back to our app.
>> It's important.
>> It is. It is. No, but I I ask in the in the event that, you know, you have people that perhaps don't have um data or they don't have internet and so forth and how they can reach you >> or perhaps an elderly population who are not techsavvy.
Yeah, >> I find that when like I said when we are in the midst of a disaster, whether that be hurricane, whether that be forest fire, you don't really think about your electricity until it no longer exists, >> right? Um how as as customers, particularly during this time, how can we um ensure that we are being safe with our electricity? I know you're talking about getting sur protectors and so forth, but what are some other things that we can do at home? at home. Um, once the power goes off, guys, um, understand that BL is stressed out more.
I don't know. All right, we're trying to find out what is going on to get your electricity back on as soon as possible.
>> Um, again, there's not much you can do during an unplanned outage, but ask you to be very patient with us as we try to get the electricity back on.
>> Um, and of course, as MNA mentioned, >> you can keep up with the updates through the apps.
So just to add to that as well, um the app allows us to be able to submit reports as well. So if you're having a service issue in your area, you can do so through the convenience of the app, right? Where it be, um I know Zen was talking about tree trims. So we do a lot of system improvement work before the hurricane season to try to minimize the impact, but to an extent, our customers are our eyes in the field, right? So if there's something out there, maybe that a tree that wasn't trimmed, you can report it through the app. Um, if it's an unplanned outage and you're staying up to date through the power update section, you can help us. So, you can interact with the app is maybe you're seeing in your area what's the cause, send us some information through there that helps us to be able to zone in and restore our power.
>> I have a question regarding this um the vegetation issue. When you guys go into a neighborhood, right, and you see that perhaps there's a tree that is either threatening or growing into your power lines, >> do you consult with the property owner before there's a trim or do you guys just take it up on your own? If it is in if it is in someone's private property, yes, we have to um >> if it's on the public property, then we we of course communicate to the to the individuals who are around indicating why we are doing it, why it is important that we do it. Um and of course try to do it as as safely as possible and removing all the debris um to be environmentally sound. Um there are times when we we we have challenges of course we have to go through the law to deal with that >> and under tight circumstances we can tag in Nemo who um have a mandate to make sure that all of these things are removed so but a lot of time our customers work with us um I also want to take the opportunity to ask our bleians to be very proactive in planting your trees right you don't want to be planting a royal palm and now on a bal's transmission line cuz somewhere in the future it will become a program.
>> Yeah.
>> I on the topic that we were talking about in terms of what we can do and so forth and reducing the the way that we consume electricity. On Friday, Sabrina and I were having this conversation about does it help if we plug out our um our appliances and our items every day.
and we were back and forth with um some of our viewers saying it's going to damage your your appliances if you plug it out every day and plug it back in.
What's the right way for us to do something like this? How do we um reduce the consumption of electricity?
>> Conserve.
>> Conserve. Sorry. Conserve.
>> Yes.
>> Yeah.
>> Um so we our purpose also is to provide our customers with all the information that they need to make decisions regarding their consumption. Um so uh there are many factors that can cause um the consumption that contributes to our consumption right we know that in hotter months they we do tend to consume naturally more electricity because it's hot right so maybe we're using the fans more we're using the ACs more >> um our consumption pattern changes based on time as well so let's say during the summer for some of us who may maybe have kids at home right although we have the same amount of people in the household they're there for more periods of time using more electricity So, um, there are different things that we can do to ourselves and then encourage the little ones in our homes to conserve energy. Turn off the lights when not in use, turn off the fans when we're, you know, leaving the room. Um, try not to open and close that fridge as often, >> right? But we do send customers the bills, the balances through SMS, through email, and of course available through our PL app. Right? Through there, you can view the balances, you can make payments, you can um, download bills.
You're also able to see the usage history. So, you're able to see on a month-to-month basis comparing this year to last year, how much is it that I'm consuming last year versus this year, what is it that I need to do this year to be able to maybe bring down my consumption a little bit.
>> Um, and as a sneak peek, we know that um we've been upgrading to AMI meters. So this will eventually uh enable us to be able or we will be able to provide our customers a more granular data in regards to consumption which will again help them to make decisions on their consumptions. So our customers can look forward to a customer web portal coming soon in my customers where they'll be able to see on a more granular level how much is it that I'm consuming so that I can be able to make decisions at home.
>> That makes a lot of sense.
>> Yeah. No, well, I I we were having the discussion about how we can, you know, conserve our electricity. But again, the dos and don'ts of how to do that. Um, I'm glad that the BEL has the space to be able to educate us. Um, as we close off our conversation this morning, what are some tips and tricks that we can do as consumers to ensure that we have a safe hurricane season um through BEL?
>> Of course, guys, um, have a plan. I think again the previous experts suggested that have a plan. Um understand where you are going in the event that we are threatened by a storm.
Um BL is on the ground remain on the ground to ensure that our our grid is is sound. All right. Um and again where BL is concerned when we have an outage during a storm. All right. We will not respond until it is safe to do so.
>> All right. Again, if you if you leave your home to go to a shelter, turn off your power. Um, and stay safe.
>> Stay safe. Um, I take this opportunity to remind you guys, you can interact with Bale through many medium, especially the app. You are our eyes and our ears. You can report to us what's going on.
>> Um, you can keep getting updates through our apps and we encourage you guys if you haven't downloaded it as yet, please do so. I know you said something about turning off your power just now and I I you mean like out of off the breaker?
Okay. Just to check because you have to make sure you give every single detail to our people.
>> Turn off your breaker.
>> Turn off your breaker. Um >> yeah. So just to add to what Zay said, stay up to date with the BL 247 app. If you haven't downloaded already, we encourage our customers to do so. Uh users, everyone. Um it's very convenient. You can access all our services. If it is that there is um talking about the hurricane season, if we need to be up to date with restoration efforts for outages, the app is the way to go. We have the power update section in the app. Um and if you need any support, we are here to assist.
We are available through our 0800 number, email. Um and yeah, we welcome every feedback that you may have. If you're using it and there's something in there that you're not seeing, feel free to reach out. We're more than happy to hear.
>> Wonderful. Thank you all so much for joining us this morning.
>> Thank you for having us. All right, we take a quick break. We'll be back to wrap things up. Don't go away.
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>> Look your kitchen like in the kitchen.
>> Mommy going back in right now.
>> And the coffee maker >> just to try keep me the coffee warm for later.
>> What you do now?
>> I'll try think about what to eat. You know, the more you open or close the refri, it take longer for the cool cool.
>> Uh-huh.
>> For a hot day like today, it burn more energy.
You charge your phone right now.
>> No.
>> Plug it out then. You really only wash two leaks on one le shirt. You don't know why small load burn the same amount of electricity as large loads. Well, this are my favorite shirt.
>> You have to be more energy efficient.
Use large loads.
This AC blow hard. You know if you keep the temperature at 25° C or higher, you burn less energy and you also keep the place cool.
And for a nice day like today, turn off the AC, open up the house, and make some fresh breeze come in.
You know what? I think I get it now. As consumers, we need to be more energy efficient and practice energy conservation.
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about heat.
Get ready, Dan Grigga. Something big is coming your way. Open your eyes.
Summerfest 2026 is heading to the culture capital, Dan Grigga. Join us on June 12th at 6:30 a.m. at the iconic Allejo Benny Park for a morning filled with energy, excitement, and pure talent. This year, it's all about the kids. From singing to dancing, poetry to performances. If they've got talent, we've got the stage. Bring out the entire family and come celebrate creativity, culture, and the future stars of Bise. Expect fun, music, surprises, and unforgettable moments.
Don't miss it. Open your eyes 2026, where young talent shines the brightest.
Heat.
Heat.
Welcome back. Welcome back. We are wrapping up our Monday morning show. It is June 1st and so of course all of our conversations were surrounding hurricane preparedness. Um before we close off Isan, how are you preparing for the hurricane season?
>> Well, I'll be honest in saying this right. I think um Daniel Mendes was speaking directly to me earlier when he said it's not too late but already late.
>> Yeah.
>> Today is the 1st of June, right? It's the first day of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, >> right? But um >> I'll be honest, I have a plan.
>> It's a matter of being able to put that into effect.
>> Yeah. As well, um here at home, we also have our plan and hopefully we don't get affected by any major storms and hurricanes this season. But wherever you are, please ensure that you have a plan for your safety and for your family safety as well. So we want to say a big thank you to our guests from the National Emergency Organization, from SEMA, from hydraology, from the Met Service, and from the BISE Electricity Limited who came in and had the conversation on hurricane preparedness this season. It is June 1st and if it is your birthday today, happy birthday to you. And if you have a birthday shout out or just a question or a comment, you can drop us a line right here. That's [email protected].
You can also catch us on our social media on Facebook at openyoubz on Instagram at oebiz and on Tik Tok. I know some of you are waiting for our Tik Tok lives to come back. That's openyou eyes.bz.
We also have a WhatsApp number at 6752555.
But please do us a favor and join us again tomorrow when you open your eyes >> to start your morning right.
>> Till then keep your eyes, your minds >> and your hearts open.
>> Good morning. It looks like it's going to be a rainy day, so be safe out there.
Bye.
Open Your Eyes was brought to you by the Bise Bank. Our country, your bank and smart, bringing people together.
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