Dean Update - Monday, Aug 20, 11 AM
Everybody's talking about the hurricane and now everyone's saying that it looks like it's going south. We're continuing our preparations (and so is everyone else, apparently), but we're less worried. We're reminded that with both Hurricane Emily and Hurricane Wilma, it barely even rained in Merida. It's good to keep in mind that what happens on one end of the Yucatan Peninsula, doesn't necessarily effect the whole peninsula.
Our friend just talked to the people at the US Consulate. They got word from the Mexican government who said that it looks like Hurricane Dean will hit Chetumal as a Category 5 and then proceed across the peninsula from there. That trajectory will put it about 60 miles south of Merida, bringing us only a tropical storm.
Another friend sent us this website (http://stormcarib.com/closest.cgi). When you put in the coordinates for Merida, you get this diagram of the storm track:
That green star is Merida, which means at this point, the hurricane would be going over Uxmal. This might not be good news for Chetumal, Felipe Carrillo Puerto and Uxmal, but these are much less populated areas than Cancun and Merida, so it's good news overall.
So for those of you with homes in Merida or along the coast, you can breathe a little now. Just take a few deep breaths, and we'll follow up with more updates soon.
Comments
Jim E 17 years ago
I just returned from Merida on Friday and appreciate your updates on Dean from Merida. Here's hoping that Dean (just downgraded to a category 3 as it made landfall at Chetumal this morning) will deteriorate further and spare you folks in Merida from much more than tropical storm level rain/wind, and lessen the problems it is visiting on Chetumal and other coastal areas.
Reply
Khaki 17 years ago
The same geography that kept Yucatan isolated from the rest of Mexico until the 1960s is also what protects the state from the worst of the forces of hurricanes that strike the peninsula. Add to that the fact that the State of Yucatan is always prepared for emergency and that makes this state an excellent destination for both tourists and expats.
Reply
(0 to 2 comments)