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In the first segment we showed you what San Jose Succotz looked like yesterday. Today the waters had receded significantly if not completely. But the village of Succotz was still recovering from the worst flood ever when Keith Swift visited today.

Keith Swift Reporting,
San Jose Succotz and anywhere west of it was accessible only by boat today. That is because the Mopan River spilled onto the Western Highway at mile 70, making it impassable. Village Chairman Esvin Carillo says it’s been that way since 2 am on Sunday.

Esvin Carillo, Village Chairman
“Saturday I did my measurement at 2 pm and nine inch the flood was 9 inch. Two am that same day it rose two feet and I did an inspection of the culvert and it was soft so I decided to close the highway there, no vehicles could cross.”

Keith Swift,
Are people able to leave the village?

Esvin Carillo,
“Yes because I told the group was organized already so we were using four canoes to cross the people from Benque to Cayo and from Cayo to Benque so we didn’t have problems assisting the people with that. Now vehicles couldn’t cross to Benque so they have to use the back street that connects us with Benque Viejo.”

It is an inconvenience for travellers such as Levi Penner but not a problem.

Keith Swift,
Where are you coming from and where are you going?

Levi Penner, Travelling to Guatemala
“From Spanish Lookout to Guatemala City.”

Keith Swift,
I know you had to cross in a canoe.

Levi Penner,
“We crossed a ferry with motor boat and then we took a taxi to Succotz and then we took a canoe and we will across the bridge to Melchor and then take a taxi again and then we will fly.”

Keith Swift,
What is this like?

Levi Penner,
“Oh this is a new adventure.”

And what’s adventurous to Penner is frightening to villagers.

Villager #1,
“People are afraid to see this much later. I’ve lived here 41 years and it is the first time.”

Erwin Pat, Villager
“It’s affecting me because I can’t go to work.”

Keith Swift,
You’ve ever seen this flooding in Succotz?

Erwin Pat,
“No I’ve never seen this, this is the first time. I live here from I born. I am surprised for this yes because this is the first time.”

Esvin Carillo,
“We’re really surprised because we never expected this because Saturday all morning it was okay but suddenly 3 pm they called me.”

Keith Swift,
Have you ever seen flooding like this?

Esvin Carillo,
“According to the elderly people it is like 45 to 47 years.”

Keith Swift,
But in your lifetime have you seen anything like it?

Esvin Carillo,
“No. Like they say, in their generation they had a chance to look at this so now nature is providing us with this opportunity so our generation can look at this situation.”

Derrick Chan from Friends for Conservation says there may be more behind the Mopan’s sudden rise.

Derrick Chan, Studies the river
“What we have seen is a real phenomenon. This has not happened for at least since Hattie which we understand is 1961. The amount of rain that we have seen, it has not really fallen here so we do not know exactly what has been going on but we have a program at the organization I work for and we study the floor regime of the river and one of the things we have seen is that people change the course of the river, what is known as the floor regime, by actually clearing land and dredging and those kind of things. But as we go clearing these things here then the floor regime changes and then we tend to have a faster flow and overflow of the river and we believe that is happening here.”

When we checked late this evening, the highway at mile 70 had been reopened to bus and trucks but it is being monitored closely by the village’s emergency management team. The Hydrology Unit reports that at its peak the flooding of them Mopan near Succotz surpassed all known levels and exceeded all the gauges.