CCRIF SPC made a payout of US$203,136 to the Government of Belize on its Excess Rainfall parametric insurance policy following three days of heavy rains during Tropical Storms Amanda and Cristobal.
Amanda was a tropical cyclone that originated in the Pacific Ocean and brought rains that affected Belize on 30 May and then weakened. However, the remnants of Amanda then reorganized to form Tropical Storm Cristobal in the Gulf of Mexico – thus becoming a cross-over cyclone from the Pacific to the Atlantic.
This payout was made on Belize’s 2019/20 excess rainfall policy, which the country has renewed for policy year 2020/21. This is the second payout that Belize has received from CCRIF. In 2016, the Government received a payout of US$261,073 following Tropical Cyclone Earl. The Government used the payout from Earl for immediate clean-up and recovery.
In addition to insurance payouts from CCRIF, Belize also benefits from the CCRIF Technical Assistance Programme.
In 2017 for example, CCRIF provided a US$100,000 grant to the Government of Belize to purchase 30 automatic weather stations to provide the Meteorological Service with access to real-time rainfall data.
These stations have been installed throughout the country and meteorology technicians have been trained on how to properly set up the stations, configure the sensors and data-loggers to measure and transmit data to the Meteorological Service. The instruments and related capacity building are improving the Government’s ability to monitor, record and forecast rainfall within Belize and better prepare the country for hydro-meteorological events.
CCRIF also has provided four scholarships to Belizean students – for two meteorological officers Michele Natalie Smith and Shanea Young to pursue studies for a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology at the University of West Indies, Cave Hill campus in Barbados and an additional scholarship for Young to pursue an M.Sc. in Applied Meteorology at the University of Reading in the UK.
Her dissertation was on “The effect of drought on the water balance and yield of crops in Belize”.
The fourth scholarship was for Vanesa Zulema Ayala toward her completion of a B.Sc. in Civil with Environmental Engineering at the UWI St. Augustine campus in Trinidad.
