The Significance of Natural Disasters to the Geography of Belize City.
Fires:
The majority of dwellings in Belize City have historically been made
of wood and have always been fairly dense. As a result, a series of fires
decimated parts of the city in the nineteenth century. One of the earliest
recorded fires occurred in 1806. A volunteer fire brigade was set up
finally in 1849 after as series of smaller fires, yet failed to stem the
danger of larger fires, for in 1854, a fire destroyed the jail, and in 1850,
a fire destroyed much of the north side of the city. In 1863, fire
destroyed 500 houses in the backstreet and overpond districts. (Foster,
1987) To my knowledge, most of the fires have since ceased on such a
grand scale, for less 'tragedy scale' fires have been reported.
Hurricanes:
Lying at the south end of the Yucatan and on the edge of the
Caribbean sea, Belize as a land site is extremely vulnerable to hurricanes.
Because of its low sea level, a good sized storm mixed with high tide will
submerge most of the city. Hurricanes frequently ravaged the city, and
after hurricane Hattie struck in 1962, the government decided to move the
capitol to Belmopan.
Hurricane Hattie killed 262 people, and left the city under 12 inches
of organic mud. There was no drinking water and shops were submerged
overnight. Seven million British Pounds worth of damage insurance was
paid, and the government decided to rebuild in the interior, on a virgin site
rather than reinvest again in Belize City.
Belmopan, the new capitol, it was thought would attract a sizable
portion of Belize City's population. The projected population was 5000 for
the first few years, rising to 50,000 (mostly previous Belize City
dwellers). Such a relocation was said to be the only way to alleviate
Belize City's susceptibility to hurricanes. By 1980 though, Belmopan's
population was only 3000, and the 1% decline in population in Belize city
was due to migration to the United States, not Belmopan.
Belmopan, as a city is modern, with large boulevards, little shade
and has little to no history. It also doesn't have any agricultural or
industrial functions to pull people. It survives only because of
government functions, which can support only a very small part of the
population. (Foster, 1987)