Blogs from Merida, Yucatán, Mexico, North America - page 24

Everything is back to normal in Merida as I can see on my little north end of town. I have heard from my friend in Veracruz and all is well on that end. The Diario de Yucatan, http://www.yucatan.com.mx/, reports this morning that there is a preliminary official count of 10 dead across Mexico because of Dean, but that those who passed away prior to, during and after that are attributed to various 'points' as they call them are not considered in the count. A fall from an upper portion of a house, an overturned car, a falling limb during cleanup, an electrocution of a home owner trying to repair a damaged line, a drowning by one who ignored safety personnel, etc. Storm didn't actually cause the deaths. Article continues on to say that all was not ... read more

Day 6 Hurricane Dean has arrived Tuesday, August 21, 2007 8:35 a.m. Merida, Yucatan, Mexico The storm has spared the upper coast of the Yucatan. Currently, it is very overcast, slight wind blowing (although some good size gusts happening) and drizzling rain. The wind is stronger than it was two hours ago. Diario de Yucatan, http://www.yucatan.com.mx/, reports that if the storm does not abruptly change routes, Merida can expect rain and tropical force winds all day, ending early evening, with the most intense winds after the noon hour. Diario de Yucatan reports the ‘what will happen’ thus far this morning. Even Quintana Roo’s newspaper, http://www.novenet.com.mx/ , does not yet have damage reports. Floods are expected in the southern areas and are expected to impact farming. The State decreed the red alert last night. Apparently this alert ... read more

Day 5 Anticipating Dean Monday, August 20, 2007, 11:35 a.m. Part 2 Weather reports are indicating Hurricane Dean’s path to have moved even more south now. Took a walk in all this heat and sunshine to see what is happening and to secure some backup adult beverage refreshments. Military helicopters flying - normal; traffic - normal; parking at all the businesses - normal. Went to the American owned big box store. Normal crowd for the vacation season, which means the crowd is a lot less than when it's not vacation. No big carts of hurricane supplies. People buying normal, every day things such as washing detergent, sodas, cooking oil. Lots of men on the automotive aisle. I call that real normal. Families shop together here in Mexico. Brilliant idea on Mama’s part. Guarantees that someone will ... read more

Merida, Yucatan, Mexico at 9:00 p.m. The National Hurricane Center had issued an update to advisory #31A at 8:35 this evening that reported maximum sustained winds of Hurricane Dean had increased to 160 mph making it a potention Cat 5. Channel 6, Beaumont, is reporting that it is now a Cat 5 and I am sure that they are privy to info before it is available to the public. The storm is on a mean westward route. The latitude of 18.2 hasn't changed in hours. Still chugging away at 20 miles an hour. Looks like he is on a mission. Poor Belize, poor Chetumal, Mexico. My prayers are with them. They, Belize, do not have resources in place as Mexico does. I am doing well here. Merida is not yet feeling anything. The good breeze we ... read more

Monday, August 20, 2007, 3:45 p.m Meriday, Yucatan, Mexico time The National Hurricane Center has issued Hurricane Dean advisory #31, http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/202032.shtml. This was at 5 p.m. EDT. Hurricane Dean is still predicted to come in on a more southern course than thought two days ago. Belize appears to be in the main path. According to the advisory, the storm is currently 270 miles from land, moving on a western path at 20 mph. It is expected to take a more west by northwest path in 24 hours. That would be after landfall I am assuming as 270 miles divided by 20 mph (should he not get in a bigger hurry) would put landfall at approximately 1 a.m. in the coming morning. This huge storm is expected, they say, to dump 5 to 20 inches in areas. ... read more