Hurricane Emily

[Cindy]

Hurricaine Emily is hitting the area that Simon and Donna Richards live, both are Team members. Donna was the women who worked our KTE booth with us this year at the CDS workshop. Simon won the photo contest last year. It's the same area that Villa Del Rosa is in. Send a few prayers to all our friends! Cindy Butler

[curtschu]

Playa del Carmen is got hit real hard too, Steve Gerrard and Kate Lewis run a guide service out of Porto Adventues that is like 5 mile south of Playa del Carmen They are right in the port so lets hope they are ok.
Also say a prayer especially for the folks like don Pedro and his family. They eek out their livelyhood off the visitors to Nohoch Nah Chich. I got to met him and his family when I went diving there they are really nice folks. Please don't forget our Mexican friends too.

[CaptainSpeleo]

I don't wish a hurricane on anyone, but I'm glad it didn't hit Florida. The 2004 season was bad enough, and I hope we don't see a season like that again.

[Maya]

got a call from a friend down there. Apparently the village of Tulum got hit hard, as did Puerto Aventuras (where S. Gerrard has a home). Akumal got some damage as well. No power, of course, but all in all, not as terrible as it could have been.

However...I am concerned about the families living throughout the area, in the jungle, in wood houses, etc. It burns me that the news reports are saying the storm "slapped" the Yucatan, just because the big tourist resorts didn't get a ton of damage. They never mention all the little villages and the great folks that live there.

[curtschu]

If anyone can find out how the families that live around the Cenotes are doing it would be great. I only know of Don Pedro's family out at Nohoch,
They have a pretty big family and could be in hard times. If anyone knows any others maybe we can get some help to them.

[curtschu]

I just tried to call Steve G. number and could not get through.

[Maya]

Last I heard, just before the storm, is that Steve is in Louisiana right now.

After the last big hurricane (Mitch?) Matt Matthes of ProTec organized a relief effort for the local Mayans and their families... if anyone hears of such an effort again, please post.

[JE]

I just tried to call Steve G. number and could not get through.

**Does any Ham Op. know if Steve has a radio-? & Are there other resources that we could use to find out his Status-? I have a resource with a NACD diver who I could contact if needed-!

Jack **

[bmwcaves]

I got word from Simon and Donna Richards. They made it through ok but said that Tulum and Puerto Aventuras got slammed. Downed trees, flooding, power outages, etc. They said communication would be sporadic for a while, didn't say anything about the smaller villages, etc.
Brian

[crazyduck]

The last time I talked to Steve he was in Saturation. I am not sure if he is saturation diving right now? Besides all platforms in the Gulf were evaucted that were remotely in the path of the storm. I have an email for him and will send word see if I can raise him.

Andrew

**Does any Ham Op. know if Steve has a radio-? & Are there other resources that we could use to find out his Status-? I have a resource with a NACD diver who I could contact if needed-!

Jack **[/quote]

[crazyduck]

This is a series of things from the scubaboard under the Mexico section.

First this is a link to where Emily came ashore. (Awesome)
http://cozumeldivemap.com/emily.html

Apparently, they moved - the ferries to in Isla Mujeres do not know if they are back yet.

As of 08:29 AM this morning-
I just got off the phone with Yolanda owner of Yucatek Diving in Playa del Carmen - LOTS of info!!!!!
First - she says Playa is not pretty - BUT it is NOT as bad as the pictures on interent!!! They got electricity back last night - WOO HOO!!! (Hopefully Coz can too!!!)
There is inbound flights to Cancun and THERE IS bus service to Playa!!! They finished clearing the road to playa yesterday!!! Her godson arrived last night - NO PROBLEM!!!!!
Now - STILL NO FERRIES TO COZ - because the "sea was very angry yesterday" according to Yolanda (she is a WONDERFUL person - if you know her you can almost hear her saying those words!)
She says the sea & wind have settled dramatically - hopefully ferries today! I will call her tonight again to find out.
The road heading south out of Playa was still closed yesterday to cars - so they walked to Puerto Aventuras to check on their boats - ALL their boats were fine!!!! She says 90% of all the boats she saw were fine & 10% had some damage. P. Aventuras (and further south of course) was hit harder than them, but still it is not wiped off the map like everyone is thinking!!!!!!
More news to come.......... Member report by “Photcoz.”


This press release just out from the Cozumel Hotel Association, as posted on www.divenewswire.com:
Cozumel Recovers Quickly from Hurricane Emily
On-site reports from Cozumel Hotel Association indicate resort destination is recovering quickly from recent storm.

July 19, 2005 (1:30 PM) Cozumel is quickly recovering from the effects of Hurricane Emily, which moved through the island early Monday morning (July 18).

According to Gaston Cantarell Diaz, president of the Cozumel Hotel Association, Cozumel sustained minimal damage and everyone on island weathered the storm safely.

"Cozumel is doing well and operating as normal today. The airport is open and ferry services are up and running again," he said. "Although there was some damage to hotels and other local properties, the important thing is that everyone remained safe throughout the storm."

Current updates from the island:

The Cozumel airport reopened on Monday, July 18, at 1:00 p.m. CST

Ferry services began operating again at 7:00 a.m. this morning (Tuesday, July 19)

Cozumel hotels and resorts are currently open and operating and are expected to complete hurricane related repairs by next Monday, July 25.

Currently the only hotel on island that will temporarily close due to damage from Hurricane Emily is the Iberostar Cozumel Hotel. Individuals with existing reservations at the Iberostar should contact the hotel for further information.

The majority of clean-up on island has been finished and the island roads are completely clear.
Downtown restaurants and shops are open.

To ensure the safety of visitors to the island, approximately 1,200 tourists were evacuated to the Cozumel Convention Center on Sunday evening (July 17) where they rode at the storm. Guests at hotels equipped with safety facilities were moved to on-site shelters.

Tourists began returning to their hotels and resorts early Monday. Guests whose hotels sustained damage by the hurricane were accommodated at alternate hotels and resorts.

[Cindy]

I emailed Simon and asked him to check on the landowners, families and the resorts for us. He said the roads were pretty bad but he would do what he could. Also his computer is iffy so it may be a while before we hear much. I'm just happy no deaths are reported in that area. (Puerto Avenures) Cindy :)

[Bill Rotella]

Any word on my friend German Yanez Mendoza with Yucatech Expeditions based in Cozumel would very much be appreciated.

Bill Rotella