Hurricane Janet 1955-Sarteneja Village

Hurricane Janet 1955-Sarteneja Village
 
         Sixty two years ago on September 28th, 1955 Hurricane Janet made landfall in Northern Belize.  The thatch roof farming community that is now Sarteneja was turned to rubble by this category 5 monster hurricane. Most of the villagers found refuge in the Catholic Primary School (the old school building) and not the church as it was thought. Testimonies revealed that villagers weren’t allowed to shelter in the Catholic Church as they were considered sinners by Mr. Aragon. The Aragon family was the only family who used the church as a shelter that night. Later on that night the stone wall church was hammered and turned to rubble taking away the life a baby. The Aragon family had to run to the primary school building where the villagers-sinners were. The Corozal Bay took over and flooded the peninsula up to 5 ft. deep leaving villagers swimming in the building. Children were placed on the attic while parents had to swim for their lives.
 
           Janet was one of the most powerful hurricanes in history of the world and Sarteneja witnessed the destruction of this monster hurricane. Sarteneja Peninsula’s vegetation was completely devastated and it took several years to recover. Hurricane Janet was so powerful that made a complete island disappear. Cayo Bagre as it was called was located a few miles north east of Sarteneja village. Today the island is just a pile of rock under the water.  



Cayo Bagre was technically washed away by Hurricane Janet. Many books dating before 1955 shows an island northeast of Sarteneja. After the 1955 the island was removed from the maps. 






 
The Catholic Primary School Building was the only building left standing after Hurricane Janet, everything else including the stone wall church and water reservoir were destroyed. 
After Hurricane Janet many Maya Temples were destroyed and used as stone mines to build over 60 stone wall houses.
 
Old Primary School Building







Catholic Church turned to ruins by Janet

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