Cancun was hit hard buy the storm, it came ashore as a cat 5, we had the eye for over 16 hours and hurricane for over 40 hours, anyone who has ever told you that it is calm in the eye of a hurricane has never been in one like this, it is still a freaking hurricane, the whole experience was rather surreal, I have certainly never seen a storm of the likes of Wilma before.
Cancun hotel Zone sustained major damage and the city suffered infrastructural damage to major power lines. The good news is that there was very minor loss of life and little structural damage to the residential part of the city as the majority of houses are brick and concrete. If they had been wood, then we would have seen damage like we saw after Rita and Katherina in the gulf.
Over a third of the major hotels suffered severe damage and virtually none (except for the royal sands) escaped damage of some sort or another. I suspect that it will be some weeks before any are open and upto a couple of years before Cancun has the hotel capacity it had before.
As far as hurricane horror stories, I am not here to write those as everyone has their own and really writing about the experience doesnt give it credit.
However what I still havent heard of is what happened underwater. I sadly predict that the divig in Cancun has taken a virtual death blow and will take decades to recover. As far as the riviera Maya, PDC and Coz, I suspect that they will have gotten of a little lighter due to the deeper water, but I will let Matt and the other southerners report on that when the time comes.
As for me, I am out of here, my work is done, Aquaworld and Cancuns diving industry is in ruins and I feel a considereable closure about that. I am heading back home to New Zealand (for the first time in nearly 14 years) to be with my daughter for her fourth birthday and to look for something new and exciting to do.
Cancun hotel Zone sustained major damage and the city suffered infrastructural damage to major power lines. The good news is that there was very minor loss of life and little structural damage to the residential part of the city as the majority of houses are brick and concrete. If they had been wood, then we would have seen damage like we saw after Rita and Katherina in the gulf.
Over a third of the major hotels suffered severe damage and virtually none (except for the royal sands) escaped damage of some sort or another. I suspect that it will be some weeks before any are open and upto a couple of years before Cancun has the hotel capacity it had before.
As far as hurricane horror stories, I am not here to write those as everyone has their own and really writing about the experience doesnt give it credit.
However what I still havent heard of is what happened underwater. I sadly predict that the divig in Cancun has taken a virtual death blow and will take decades to recover. As far as the riviera Maya, PDC and Coz, I suspect that they will have gotten of a little lighter due to the deeper water, but I will let Matt and the other southerners report on that when the time comes.
As for me, I am out of here, my work is done, Aquaworld and Cancuns diving industry is in ruins and I feel a considereable closure about that. I am heading back home to New Zealand (for the first time in nearly 14 years) to be with my daughter for her fourth birthday and to look for something new and exciting to do.