about hurricane Dean

[idgiehkt]

how does a Cat 5 hurricane hit Mexico (yucatan peninsula) and there are no reported deaths and little damage?

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/8/22/worldupdates/2007-08-22T073418Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-290871-1&sec=Worldupdates

I don't know much about the geography but they were very worried about the Mayans who refused to evacuate...apparently some hid from the police who came to tell them to evacuate. Dean is now a cat 1 with possible intensification.

[BadgerLaw2010]

1. It hit a nature reserve. If people live there, they haven't been found yet.

[idgiehkt]

3. It looked big enough to cover the whole peninsula

and the article at the link says this under a picture caption:
"Water surged down a main street at thigh level in Chetumal, a city of about 150,000 people near where Dean made landfall. Broken trees and street lights lay strewn around."






plus they had the remaining people from resorts in shelters. But they do show flooded streets etc. Just strange, I guess. If the Mexican govt didn't have such a habit of lying about stuff I wouldn't question it. I hope the death toll is accurate but them saying there was little damage seems fishy.

[uppityperson]

2. Sometimes accurate news takes a while to come out of disaster areas.

[idgiehkt]

14. thanks

very true. I just am afraid the gov't will minimize things about the storm affected poorer people so the tourists will hurry and come back, you know?

[bridgit]

4. we have friends that have a time share condo in Cancun...

i'm sitting on a blanket i made them bring back for my couch; but it would seem outside the various all inclusive resort settings right where tourist' go, there's not much else developed

the place is beautiful, i hitchhiked there with friends as a teenager but not much has changed cept a resort or two :shrug:

[idgiehkt]

5. I want to see those ruins one day

I'd like to go to Angkor, really but I'm a chicken about the jungle. I think that is a little more coastal, maybe, but I could be wrong.

[SoCalDem]

6. the most damaging winds hit a nature preserve instead of a city.

I suspect that many critters perished:(

and people did evactuate the coastal areas..

as to damage?

people build two ways in the subtropics..

they either build shanty-style (cheap) and rebuild between storms..(they expect to lose it in storms)

or they use concrete & tile, with plenty of open spaces, courtyards etc for wind to blow through. They have metal furniture and tiled interiors, so a squeegee & a mop can be used for clean up..

[idgiehkt]

8. it's the people that

had the shanties that I am worried about. Apparently many of them refused to evac.

I am sad about it hitting a nature preserve, in the article it said 'jungle' so I guess that is what they meant.

[SoCalDem]

12. the people who lived close to the shore probably went inland

like they have always done when they had warning.

Since places have "touristified", they have pretty much "moved" the locals off the primo real estate (the beaches), so there are probably fewer locals who live beachside these days ..

There are many news people there, so I doubt they could get away with scores of unaccounted dead people. I think the people got out of the way..

[whoneedstickets]

7. Its not the wind, its the water...

Winds seldom generate deaths, storm surges and flooding are the main problem and where Dean made landfall --south of Cancun and north of the border with Belize (especially the north side of the eye of the storm where the wind driven surge combined with the forward motion of the storm combine to generate the highest water) there was very little coastal development. The inland areas of the Yucatan aren't densely populated and the area gets lots of natural precipitation so it handles downpours well. There isn't much elevation change (its flat) to generate flash flooding.

Dean may cause more problems when it hits Veracruz (state) where there are mountains for it to slam into and dump the rest of its water (leading to landslides and flash floods). That state is more populated too. Just because the winds are lessened doesn't make it less deadly if it drowns a village.

[idgiehkt]

11. true, plus they are expecting it to plow through those off shore rigs

I guess I just wanted to talk about it. Doesn't seem much interest unless it hits american soil.

here is the path
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/145027.shtml?3day?large#contents

and latest update
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/220545.shtml

[KharmaTrain]

9. Lots Of Flying Monkeys...Literally

First...this storm has moved quickly...not like the ones that lingered off the Florida coast a couple years ago that stalled and dumped tons of rain on the east coast.

It looks like the main impact of winds and storm surge hit in uninhabited jungle and swampland...almost deliberately bypassing the main tourist areas. Then it went quickly overland through mostly jungle and is now churning in the Gulf of Campeche...but this storm isn't done yet.

It looks like it'll hit around Veracruz and the rains could make a real mess in the nearby mountains...possibly creating a scenario that happened a decade ago with Hurrican Mitch. That wasn't a powerful storm...just dumped a lot of rain and lingered in the area...overflowing rivers and streams that swept away villages.

Despite the storm's size and power, it all but has bypassed major populated areas.

[idgiehkt]

13. that is such a blessing

thanks to you and everyone for the explanations. I hope that Mexico continues to have good luck with this storm, fingers crossed. I am sad for the animals that may have perished though. :(

edit: I've read that animals sometimes know when things like this are coming so maybe they moved inland too...I hope so.

[KharmaTrain]

15. An Interesting Report

I think it was CNN that had a Mexican archeologist who had weathered the storms near some of the Mayan temples. Fear was the winds would destroy some of these relics and the archeologist laughed that the ruins had been there for thousands of years and withstood many hurricanes and that the surrounding jungle is so robust it probably "needed the rain".

[whoneedstickets]

16. I saw that report too...

..very funny. He was boasting that the builders used the 'best materials' a.k.a STONE! That's what we need to do, build trailer parks out of stone! Hurricane problem solved.

This part of the world has probably been hit with a hundred CAT 5 hurricanes in the last millennium, and that's just human time. In geologic time... Most of the natural flora is hurricane adapted and the fauna will just hunker down. I bet the monkeys are better off than we think.

[KharmaTrain]

17. They Kept Billing It As A "killer storm"

Fortunately this wasn't a Mitch or Katrina. From what I heard just a handful of people were lost when it hit the Leeward (or is that Windward) islands. It just made for good TV...these networks live for these things. I laughed at how many "CNN Reporters" were assigned to cover this thing. I was imagining every Sandals resort in the region wsa filled with guys hauling cameras and saying they were Rich Sanchez. :rofl:

I do have to admit, I enjoy watching this coverage...especially if its appears the storm live up to the billing. And I kinda like the weather ladies always showing me more than the latest images :spank:

I just hope this is the worst of the season, but I know better. The said this would be an active season and more storms will be on the way. Lets hope we stay lucky. Even though I have to admit, I wouldn't be sad if a Cat 5 hit Crawford, Texas right now.

Cheers...

[soothsayer]

18. nah, this season will be a bust like last year. I hope!

[Colorado Progressive]

10. wow nt

[idgiehkt]

19. Dean hit the mainland as a cat 2 last night

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6959204.stm

so apparently they really have no idea about the people who didn't evacuate the peninsula, this is talking about Dean's first strike as a Cat 5

"Major Mexican tourist resorts were not directly hit, but indigenous Mayan villages were exposed to the hurricane's full force when it struck the Yucatan Peninsula on Tuesday, about 170 miles (270km) south of Cancun.

Hundreds of homes were destroyed in and around the town of Majahual.

The hurricane lashed low-lying Mayan communities, and rain, poor communications and impassable roads made it hard to establish how they had fared in the storm.

President Felipe Calderon has said relief efforts would focus on these communities."

I knew the thing about no damages couldn't be true. I wonder if we will ever hear more about this on the news.