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Here's her story:

Monica Bodden Reporting

Around 3 yesterday afternoon, the storm track suddenly shifted from northwest to west - and hurricane Rina seemed to be heading directly for the Northern parts of Belize with winds of at least one hundred and ten miles an hour.

NEMO sprang into action as voluntary evacuation began for those living on the islands and the doors of shelters in Belmopan were opened.

Throughout the course of last night, hurricane Rina was closely monitored - and this morning it was a sigh of relief for many Belizeans when they heard that the category 2 hurricane had weakened to a category one and was now travelling in a West Northwest direction -which was its predicted path - taking the storm away from Belize.

Dennis Gonguez - Chief Meteorological Officer
"The 9 o'clock position was based largely on our local weather radar observation here in Belize. And at that time, the position was at 17.9 north, and 85.5 west. However, the hurricane hunter aircraft was on its way into the system, and at 10:45, they found a new center. It was located at 18.0 north, and 85.7 west. That position is about 150 miles east of San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. The hurricane hunter observation also found that Rina had weakened to a category 1 hurricane, with 85 mile per hour winds. So that's some good news for us, and the path. It is assuming a more west-northwesterly path which will take it away from us. So it's heading toward the west - northwest at about 5 miles per hour."

And even though Rina had weakened to a category 1 hurricane by 10 o'clock this morning, evacuation from off the islands was still ongoing.

Between yesterday and today, NEMO Coordinator, Noreen Fairweather told us, close to 2 thousand people were evacuated from San Pedro and Caye Caulker.

Noreen Fairweather - National Emergency Coordinator
"We have been evacuating the island, primarily, we are looking at the San Pedro and Caye Caulker island. We've been moving people off the island since yesterday. Yesterday, I believe, we moved some 1,500 or so persons off the island. And this morning, another 450 plus persons - that was about 9 o'clock. That figure has gone up. Vessels have been in transit since then, and people are moving off. Not as fast as we would want them to, it's not in the numbers that we would want. And so we have been strongly encouraging them and urging them to heed evacuation warnings and move off the islands. While we have San Pedro and Caye Culker as the more densely populated areas, there are also the outer atolls and other islands out there. And we have been supported by the Coast Guard. They made their rounds. We have asked persons to come to the inland - come to the mainland. Moor their vessels, put them in safe harbor, and basically ensure that they are safe. Some persons have opted not to heed those advisories. We have about - I believe - off Lighthouse Reef, we have 5 people since yesterday that they have indicated quite clearly that they will not be moving. So our advice to them is that we will not be going back out there in the event that they need be evacuated in. Once we have given that cut-off time, we will not be putting our support people's - the Coast Guard and others - lives at risk in terms of moving people in sea states that are unsafe."

6 buses left Belize City yesterday - en route to Belmopan - with evacuees from off the islands.

But out of those hundreds of evacuees, only 15 persons occupied the shelter in Belmopan - which is the UB Gymnasium

Monica Bodden
"What's the level of shelter occupation at this time?"

Noreen Fairweather
"I believe that there are a couple of families here in Belmopan that has come in from the island. But of all those people - of almost 2000+ - most of them have either gone and sheltered with friends or family in Belize City, and in Belmopan. Several buses have come to Belmopan, but those persons have opted to stay with friends and family."

Monica Bodden
"Are there any shelter issues at this time?"

Noreen Fairweather
"They are a little inconvenienced in terms of them being in a shelter. That is expected; that's the way it is. But everything is going according to plan. They are as comfortable as we can make them. Most importantly, they are safe."

Delvorene Maine - Shelter Manager
"Actually, we have 15 persons right now using the shelter. But as you can see, most of them went to find food to sustain themselves for however long they'll be in the shelter. A bus came in this morning, but all we did was to take statistics from them. They all went to family or friends further up."

Monica Bodden
"Out of the 6 buses that came in yesterday, only 15 people actually took shelter?"

Delvorene Maine
"Only 15 people actually took shelter at the gymnasium."

One of those fifteen persons staying at the shelter is this elderly man - who has been a resident of San Pedro for the past 25 years. He had just returned to Belize from Guatemala where he was hospitalized for a heart check-up.

When trying to board his boat to get home on the island. He was told, not so and that a storm was coming.

Jose Najera - Resident of San Pedro
"Today at 6am I entered the country. Immigration officer asked me are you going to San Pedro? I told him yes, it's where I live. He told me, you can't go there because everyone is leaving San Pedro because of the hurricane. I was hospitalized in the cardio-logical ward for one day to check this machine in my chest in Guatemala City and yesterday they released me".

Dennis Gonguez - Chief Meteorological Officer
"We should continue to pay attention to now category 1 Hurricane Rina, and as it moves away, we should see conditions gradually improve over the next day or so, and We should be out of here within the next 24 to 36 hours."

Since the all clear has been given, buses will depart the UB Gymnasium in Belmopan at 7:00, 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. tomorrow for all evacuees to be taken back to San Pedro and Caye Caulker.

Boats will leave Brown Sugar between 8:30 & 12:00 midday.

And school will resume as normal at the UB main campus in Belmopan.