Digging out after Dean
Posted Thursday, September 13, 2007, 11:23 PM by Lonely Planet
Thank God, thank the Virgin of Guadalupe, thank whomever you wish, nobody died at the hands of Hurricane Dean... Now the hard part: rebuilding a town ripped to shreds. 
At the height of the storm, much of Mahahual, a tourist town about 300 km south of Cancún, Mexico was underwater. The other coastal areas, including the tourist town of Xcalak, are fine. There's a bit of wind scour, but they are up and running and the beaches and reefs are still in good shape throughout the Costa Maya.
Two inland ruins, Dzibanché and Río Bec, are temporarily closed. They should be opening up in the next week or so, according to authorities.
The first person I came across in Mahahual (weeks after the storm) was Aura. She was selling Corona t-shirts near the beach. She used to have a great spot, just a block or two from the port that brought in up to three cruise ships a day. But now that port is underwater, and most people think it will be at least a year, maybe two, before it gets rebuilt. In short, the people of Mahahual, who depended on tourist traffic to stay alive, are royally screwed.
But Aura has set up her little t-shirt stand again, looking expectantly at the horizon for any ghost ships that might roll in and businesses remain optimistic, many expecting to reopen within a week or two.
So now could be a good time to travel to Mahahual, buy a t-shirt, some conch stew, and look out over that great blue sea.
Hurricane relief can be sent through www.playa.info. The Red Cross is not operating in Mahahual.
- Greg Benchwick
Labels: Breaking travel news, The Americas, Volunteer
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4 Comments:
Please, can someone ask the cruise ships why they are not helping rebuild this town that is ripped to shreds?
and why, after the red cross has been pledged over million USD and funded over a half million dollars earmarked for Dean, WHY they are not there?
Thanks so much for the update.
When we visited the Yucatan in January 07, we saw much remaining damage from Hurricane Wilma, especially on Isla Mujeres. We feared the worst with Dean.
What a surprise and a relief the damage from Dean was not more extensive.
I travelled with my friend Darren to the costa maya in March 2007 and spent the most time in Mahahual. We stumbled upon a thriving community of locals and ex pats and found out a story of real people making something out of nothing in this apparent paradise on earth. How sad to see all that gone now and the people of the region have to start all over again. The spirit of the people is strong and I am sure they will bounce back. Pitty the cruise ship companies board of directors and money grabbing shareholders to turn their back on this
"undiscovered" Carribean paradise. How quick to take when all is pretty and working and just as quick to abandon in the face of hardship for the area just because they can't sell it as a "vacation destination" any more. Just goes to show how shallow the cruise line industry realy is. CRIMINAL. ...I for one will be travelling back to the region in the new year to contribute what I can to the community in their hour of need. RJF. ENGLAND
I am glad cozumel was still there or I would be out of a job and out of senior frogs.....would be a sad day.
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