Cozumel report (from Aldora) on rtc.
Dillon Pyron
"Charles" <fo...@his.com.remove.invalid> wrote in message
news:241020052209330689%fo...@his.com.remove.invalid...
> The damage is heavy of course.
There is a blog of sorts that I have been following at
http://www.stormcarib.com/reports/2005/mexico.shtml On it, there is
this
first hand report about the conditions at Cozumel which was taken from
another group. News is scarce so we'll take it from wherever we can
get it.
None of this is verified but I have no reason to doubt it:
-------------------------------------------------
This was originally posted at
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?p=1321794#post1321794
Hurricane Wilma Recovery
I got this from Aldora this morning regarding the damage from the
hurricane.
I will post more as I get them. Kathy in Texas
October 24, 2005
I talked to Memo Mendoza at 8am today and have the following partial
report:
General Damage of note (from south to north):
While there was much rain, it was not as much as tropical storms that
we
frequently experience and flooding from rising water was not anything
out of
the ordinary.
All waterfront hotels to the south have suffered catastrophic damage
but the
extent is not known at this time.
Day beach resorts where our surface intervals have been taken are
certainly
damaged if not gone.
Chankanaab Park has disappeared.
Caletta Harbor suffered severe damage to many boats. The Living
Underwater
boat is sunk and lies underneath a huge Dive Paradise boat which is
upside
down. Most if not all of the Dive House boats are wrecked/sunken, as
are
most of the boats in the harbor.
Puerta Maya has disappeared. That includes the buildings and the pier.
Paradise Reef is now safe from Cruise Ships.
Car and Truck Ferry Pier is damaged limiting the arrival of supplies.
The International Pier (for years the only cruise ship pier) is
damaged and
missing a section in the middle.
The dry marina (boat yard) next to Caribe Blu (still standing but
seriously
damaged), where many boats are stored on land, had a collapse of the
boat
hanger roof which crushed the owner's giant catamaran and the travel
lift
which is used to launch and retrieve the large dive boats. This means
that
it will be quite some time before the large dive boats in dry storage
there
can get into the water.
The dry marina boat yard protected about 30 boats, and about 5 of them
were
damaged by flying debris or collapsed walls. All six of the Aldora
Boats in
the dry Marina are not damaged and using the forklift, can be placed
in the
water as soon as the authorities allow such activity.
The new cruise ship pier downtown, Punta Langosta seems to be
completely
intact but the adjacent buildings and mini mall are seriously damaged.
The Aqua Safari pier is gone as well as the remains of the Pro Dive
Pier.
The Aldora Pier seems to be ok and usable.
The hotel Casa Mexicana is open and running on a generator. The Bahia
and
other downtown hotels seem to be OK and given electrical power and
guests
seem to be able to accommodate guests.
The Aldora office and shop on Calle 5, just ź block from the water's
edge
remained undamaged.
All waterfront shops on the main street (Rafael Melgar) suffered wave
damage
and burst open storm doors, with the contents spread out over the
street.
Some people have been picking up items from the street but it is not
"wild
looting" and the police are now patrolling the street where no one is
allowed. To the north side of town the waterfront damage seems less
and
Pancho's Back Yard and Cinco Solis seem intact.
The airport runway is ok and can support flights but the control tower
is
damaged as is the terminal building.
The Villa Aldora suffered some water in the beach level rooms but
since we
had moved all furniture into the Cameron Suite (furthest from the
water and
no ocean view) that all stayed dry. The Barracuda Suite had a broken
window
behind the hurricane shutters and the North Suite has a cracked
sliding
glass door. On the Villa Aldora Beach, the only thing left is the
rocks that
god placed there. Gone is the dock, palapa, retaining walls for our
beach
sand, the huge palms trees and the wall on the south side of the
property.
Puerto Abriggo, home to many of the larger boats, suffered many
casualties
too but we did not have time to survey them. Maybe 50% were damaged.
Hotels to the north and structures on the east side could not be
surveyed.
Synopsis
The major impact has been to the following:
Cruise Ship
It is unknown how long a time will pass before a cruise ship can land
in
Cozumel. And if they could there is no infrastructure to entertain
them. Of
course they can revert to using a lighter to bring passengers in, and
the
shops may be able to sweep out their stores and replace the
merchandise, but
it will be a long time before the streets are crowded with them again.
Power
The restoration of power is a key for renewal of the Cozumel economy.
Without power there will be no tourists so I am sure that the
government
will apply all energy that they can to get power up and running.
Complicating that effort will be that Cozumel will be competing with
Cancun
for support and it may be difficult to get done as quickly as we have
in
past hurricanes. The good news is that the Governor of the state is a
former
President (mayor) of Cozumel and much of his staff is from here. With
their
friends and family in Cozumel I don't think we will be ignored. My
best
guess is that we should have power restored to most of the island in
less
than one week.
Diving
There are two aspects to this, one is the quality of dives and the
other is
availability of dive boats.
The dive quality will be reduced by very poor visibility for about one
week.
After that the current should have carried all the light debris toward
Cuba.
The heavy stuff may litter the bottom for a while, but given that
there is
not much development near the dive sites that should be minimal. The
shallow
dive sites may have been scoured but we have found that the fish life
returns rather quickly after such an event. Expect finger coral and
lettuce
coral to have been hard hit. The deeper sites such as Palancar,
Columbia and
Punta Sur should not have been effected. We are very curious to see if
the
hurricane has mover the wreck of the C-53.
As for our surface intervals which have normally been taken at a day
beach
resort, we will just have to revert to the ways we did things before
there
were piers down south. That is we will nose anchor out, backing in and
raising the outboards in the shallow water. Lunch and drinks will be
provided for a quiet beach picnic, blowing off the accumulated
nitrogen.
Many have longed for the way it used to be-here it is!
The availability of dive boats will be an issue. All of the Aldora
Boats are
ready to go diving as we speak. However more than 50% of the fleet is
now
damaged or completely destroyed and it is difficult to determine how
long it
will take to get them all back in operation. Prior reservations may be
a
must do for divers coming to Cozumel in the coming months.
Another consideration is the availability of power for the compressor
shops.
That should be going within a week. However, given the focus on
"recovery"
it is possible that the authorities may ban commercial activity for
some
time, and that usually includes dive boats.
Given the problems with infrastructure in Cozumel the diving may, for
some
time, be just it was in the 70s and 80s--not very crowded and with a
scarcity of cruise ship people roaming town. There are some among us
who
don't see that as bad.
Hotels
Most of the large hotels are severely damaged and some may not be
reopened
at all. My guess is that some may make it to reopen by Christmas. The
smaller hotels around town should be able to accept guests as soon as
the
power is restored. The Villa Aldora is operating on a generator now
and
could accept guests.
This will be updated as more complete information is received.
Dave Dillehay Aldora Diver
----------------------------------------------
In this era of media hype, the word "devastation" gets thrown around a
lot
but in the case of Cozumel, we may find that it is an apt
description. My
feeling is that it will take months before cruise ships return there,
even
on a limited basis. It took Grand Cayman months to recover from
Hurricane
Ivan and I think we will see the same effort on Cozumel.
Keep a good thought or a prayer for these people. Most of them live
hand to
mouth and depend on the tourist industry. It is going to be tough
times for
them.
--
dillon
Anyone who says grown men don't cry has never
taken a differential equations final.
Lee Bell
That's what they get for charging a fee.
> Puerta Maya has disappeared. That includes the buildings and the pier.
> Paradise Reef is now safe from Cruise Ships.
Talk about a mixed blessing.
Lee
Dillon Pyron
>> Chankanaab Park has disappeared.
>
>That's what they get for charging a fee.
Talked to my friend Ron today. He thinks the dolphins are "free at
last, free at last".
Says there are a bunch of Federales and soldiers walking around town,
but everybody's being very supportive. Supposed to have some
telephone service up by Friday, just be some Telmex stations down
town.
>
>> Puerta Maya has disappeared. That includes the buildings and the pier.
>> Paradise Reef is now safe from Cruise Ships.
>
>Talk about a mixed blessing.
>
>Lee
>