the "TODAY" show is reporting significant damage,

[wxcrazytwo]

is unable to broadcast any pictures of major communication damage. They said the damage was significant... http://www.msnbc.com

[Normandy]

Are they in Cozumel?

[lisa0825]

I saw a post on another board from someone who got a phone call from Cozumel. Their house is OK, lots of branches and other debris around, but they still have phone service, so that is a good sign.

[wxcrazytwo]

I saw a post on another board from someone who got a phone call from Cozumel. Their house is OK, lots of branches and other debris around, but they still have phone service, so that is a good sign.

this newspaper is reporting three dead and numerous towns underwater.

http://www.sureste.com/

[lisa0825]

I saw a post on another board from someone who got a phone call from Cozumel. Their house is OK, lots of branches and other debris around, but they still have phone service, so that is a good sign.

this newspaper is reporting three dead and numerous towns underwater.

http://www.sureste.com/

There is only one town on Cozumel, San Miguel, so that report is probably from another area.

[x-y-no]

Are they in Cozumel?

Apparently not ... the vieo report on the msnbc site is from Cancun, and his only refernce to points south was reagarding a crew in Playa del Carmen who reported "significant damage" but were unable to get any video out.

[schmita]

I saw a post on another board from someone who got a phone call from Cozumel. Their house is OK, lots of branches and other debris around, but they still have phone service, so that is a good sign.

this newspaper is reporting three dead and numerous towns underwater.

http://www.sureste.com/

There is only one town on Cozumel, San Miguel, so that report is probably from another area.

The newspaper recounts 2 dead from trying to land a helicopter on an oil platform in BOC and a German gentleman was electrocuted from downed power line in Playa del Carmen.
Playa is directly across from the Hotel Zone in Cozumel.

[alicia-w]

Hurricane Emily Lashes Yucatan Peninsula
By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press Writer


PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico -- Hurricane Emily slammed into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula early Monday as a powerful Category 4 storm, snapping concrete utility poles with its winds of 135 mph and punishing waves along the region's famous white-sand beaches.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Emily made landfall near Tulum -- 100 miles south of Cancun. The northern eyewall -- where the worst weather would be expected -- passed directly over Cozumel, it said.

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No deaths were immediately reported from the storm's landfall. Emily earlier was blamed for four deaths in Jamaica, and two helicopter pilots were killed Sunday while attempting to evacuate an oil rig off the Mexican coast in high winds.

The hurricane knocked out power and phone service to much of Mexico's famous Riviera Maya coastline, where tourists rode out the storm in sweltering, makeshift shelters set up in schools and hotel ballrooms.

Although Emily weakened to a Category 2 hurricane while crossing the peninsula, it was expected to gather strength again after hitting Gulf waters later Monday.

A hurricane watch was issued from Cabo Rojo, Mexico, to Baffin Bay, Texas. The brunt of the second landfall was forecast to hit northeast Mexico late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

By 8 a.m. EDT, winds decreased to near 100 mph, with the hurricane moving west at about 17 mph. Emily was centered over the Yucatan, about 50 miles northeast of Merida.

In Cancun, hundreds of buses moved more than 25,000 people -- mostly tourists -- to temporary shelters on Sunday, evacuating them from hotels and low-lying seaside neighborhoods in Cancun being battered by strong waves.

They were among the nearly 60,000 tourists being evacuated statewide from resorts like Tulum, Playa de Carmen and Cozumel, an island famous for its diving. Cancun's airport closed Sunday afternoon after thousands lined up at ticket counters, trying to get flights out before the storm hit.

Hundreds of mostly foreign tourists lay shoulder-to-shoulder on thin foam pads in a sweltering gymnasium near the center of Cancun. They were given free bottled water and sandwiches, but many gasped when a hard rain rattled the metal roof of the building.

"It's hot in here," said Beth McGhee, 46, a tourist from Independence, Mo. "We feel like we've been kept in the dark until this morning. But we're safe, and that's what's important."

Power was knocked out all along the coast, as Emily's winds snapped concrete utility poles along a half-mile stretch of highway between Playa del Carmen and Cancun. Ground floor windows were shattered in most businesses in Playa del Carmen, and residents waded through knee-deep water along some streets.

Mexico's state-owned oil company said Sunday that two pilots were killed in the Gulf of Mexico when their helicopter was downed by strong winds as they tried to land on an offshore oil rig to evacuate workers.

The aircraft was part of a fleet of 15 ships and 26 helicopters working to transfer 15,500 oil workers to shore. The platform evacuations closed 63 wells and halted the production of 480,000 barrels of oil per day.

By late afternoon Sunday, heavy winds tugged at palm trees and sent the last people at the beach running for their cars. Billboards were toppled by the storm.

Christopher Espinoza, a Cancun resident, braved howling bursts of wind to look out over the angry waves pounding the Cancun seafront. "The waves are already starting to take away part of the beach," he said.

Beach erosion has long been a problem for Cancun, and waves were starting to lap almost at the doorsteps of some hotels.

In Jamaica, which Emily had hit earlier, searchers on Sunday found the four bodies trapped inside a car, which was filled with mud and other debris, police said. A man, a woman, an infant boy and his 5-year-old sister had been driving through a flooded rural road in southwest Jamaica when a surge of water pushed them over a cliff, police said.

The Cayman Islands escaped major damage. The islands and a handful of other Caribbean countries were devastated last year when three catastrophic hurricanes -- Frances, Ivan and Jeanne -- tore through the region with a collective ferocity not seen in years, causing hundreds of deaths and billions of dollars in damage.

Cancun's last big evacuation was for Hurricane Gilbert, which killed some 300 people in Mexico and the Caribbean in 1988. But the city and surrounding resort areas had only about 8,000 hotel rooms then. That number has since grown to over 50,000.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_top10jul18,0,247536.story

[Swimdude]

Goodness, I hope everyone stayed safe... I'm sure the population of Cozumel and Cancun were nearly 1/10th of the normal after evacuations. Hopefully the damage isn't too severe...

[lisa0825]

Cozumel update:

"21. "RE: HURRICANE REPORTS MONDAY"
In response to message #0

Just received the attached via email from Dave Dillehay at Aldora Divers:
"Even though the eye went through the south end of the island damage has been minimal. I would like you to post the following item:

For our concerned friends and customers…don’t worry!

Last night at midnight the northern eye wall of Emily passed over Punta Sur with 135 mph winds, and slightly reduced velocity in town. It is now gone on to bother others and we hope they have as much good fortune as did Cozumel.

At 8 am Memo Mendoza did a preliminary survey of damage. Some power lines down, branches in the streets, but apparently little or no water damage. There was no tidal surge at all. The Villa Aldora suffered a little water in the Courtyard Norte, Barracuda Suite, and Cameron Suite, due mostly to wind driven rain. My long suffering dock at the Villa (wiped out by Ivan last year) had no damage at all.

All of our boats were safe on land and tied down. As of 8 am on Monday we are dragging them back into the water and getting ready to dive again. It is our goal to be diving tomorrow, July 19th.

We have not been able to check out the rest of the island and we fear that some of the beaches on the windward side may have been damaged and our friend’s windward hotel, Ventanas Al Mar, was certainly at risk. We will provide a more comprehensive report when we have information.""

[djtil]

sounds like he was on the leeward side where of course there was no surge with the eye being to the south.

[lisa0825]

sounds like he was on the leeward side where of course there was no surge with the eye being to the south.

Most of the businesses, hotels, and homes are on the west side, from the northern tip of the island down south. At the southern tip is a national park. I'm not sure if there were any homes in the area where the eye passed over. The eastern side of the island is pretty undeveloped, except for one hotel that I am not familiar with, and various small beach clubs that may not have survived. Most of them appear to be pretty cheaply built, probably assuming they'd have to rebuild every so often anyway. Just open air huts with a grill and bar and palapas for the most part.

Still, I'll be very sad if Mescalito's is not there when I return in November!!! I'm happy to hear many reports of minimal damage though. I know a lot of folks there, both expats and locals, and I always worry during hurricane season.

[GalvestonDuck]

http://www.stormcarib.com/reports/2005/mexico.shtml

[Stephanie]

Thanks Duckie for that link. I hope his cats are alright!

[alicia-w]

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/sm/events/ts/080304tropicalweathe/p:6

pics available here....

[HurricaneBill]

Well, any reports on how the rest of the Yucatan did?